Bear spotted in Glendale Wednesday in Chevy Chase Canyon neighborhood

A large bear was spotted early Wednesday outside a home in the Chevy Chase Canyon neighborhood in Glendale, police said.

Residents saw the bear at about 6:27 a.m. three feet away from their home’s front window in the 3000 block of Buckingham Road, Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.

The bear had already fled the neighborhood by the time police arrived, he added.

The last reported bear sighting — in December — was also in the Chevy Chase Canyon neighborhood.

At that time, a black bear was spotted digging through a home’s outdoor trash bin in the 3200 block of Cornwall Drive.

Residents, who reported seeing the bear every day, described it as weighing 500 to 800 pounds. Police flashed their patrol car lights and used an air horn to frighten the bear, which ran into a nearby hillside and out of sight.

In September, a resident saw a black bear sunbathing in his backyard in the 3600 block of East Chevy Chase Drive, then walk to a nearby hillside and disappeared, police said.

Of course, Glendale is no stranger to bears, laying claim to “Glen Bearian” — otherwise known as “Meatball” — an animal that captured the hearts and minds of thousands of fans on social media last year after repeated, highly publicized neighborhood trash runs before being relocated to an animal sanctuary in San Diego County.

-- Veronica Rocha, Times Community News

Follow Veronica Rocha on Google+ and on Twitter: @VeronicaRochaLA.