A black bear took a stroll through Port Hope on Wednesday, June 11, 2025.
The bear was first spotted shortly after 3 p.m. by Port Hope Hyundai at 50 Benson Court in the east end of town.
The bear perused the parking lot for a short time while customers were asked to stay inside.
Eluding police, the bear made a getaway heading west, but members of the Port Hope Police stayed on its tail.
Police did their best setting up a perimetre, but the elusive bandit seemed to know their every move and getting ahead of Port Hope’s finest.
Making its way along the southern part of Highway 401, it crossed over County Road 28 and was then observed on the west side of the Port Hope fish ladder.
Spotting one of the finest fishing rivers around, the bear didn’t seem to have any luck and kept heading west up Crossley Drive staying close to homes.
Crossley Drive resident Aaron Austin was just unpacking his car when he was alerted to the bear crossing his driveway just a few metres in front of him.
As the bear ran between his car and his house, Austin quickly jumped on the trunk of his vehicle staying out of its path.
“That’s insane,” Austin could be heard yelling while sitting on the trunk of his vehicle.
Port Hope Police followed the bear west on Crossley Drive as it went in and out of backyards and over fences.
Police thought they had the culprit corralled in a backyard with a wooden fence, but soon found out this was one elusive bear.
The next spotting was along Hewson Drive where it ducked into another yard and climbed over the fence evading police once again.
Parents were notified of the situation when a school bus dropped off students at Centennial Drive.
It was clear throughout the day that the bear seemed agitated while in the unfamiliar territory of Port Hope.
It was next spotted in the area of Victoria Street North very close to Highway 401, but stayed amongst the bushes.
The bear was last seen heading west by the eastbound off-ramp on Toronto Road.
Afterwards Today’s Northumberland went back to see how Austin was doing from the excitement.
“I was unloading the car and then a bear appeared,” said Austin.
His first thought after it happened was, “holy sh-t!,” which sums up the afternoon.
It’s believed the bear was the same one that was spotted in a farmer’s field in Hamilton Township on Tuesday afternoon.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
