Location: 1571 Flynn Road, Camarillo

On 5/6/09, at 4:59 a.m., deputies responded to a call of a bear sighting in the City of Camarillo, near the railroad tracks at Lewis Road and Upland Road. A passing motorist called to report that he had seen a large brown bear running westbound from the location. Deputies spotted the bear in the 1500 block of Flynn Road and saw it enter the Avalon Camarillo apartment complex through an open exit gate. Inside, the deputies located the bear and stood by for officers from the California Department of Fish & Game. When Fish & Game officers
arrived they loaded a tranquilizer gun and shot the bear with a tranquilizer dart, causing it to run a few yards before it stopped and lay down. The bear was then put into a Fish & Game pickup truck where it was transported out of the apartment complex. The bear will most likely be released in the County area north of the City of Fillmore.

The bear was identified as a male, weighing between approximately 250 and 300 pounds.

During the incident, six deputies and a supervisor responded along with a Sheriff's helicopter, and four members of the California Fish & Game. There were no reported injuries to anyone during the incident.
The Ventura County Sheriff's Department also used the Reverse 9-1-1 system to notify more than 3,000 residents and businesses that deputies were in the area looking for a bear and cautioning them to stay inside.