Bear Attacks, Traps Scoutmaster In Cave

ROCKAWAY TWP., NJ – The Boy Scout leader who encountered a bear at Split Rock Reservoir Sunday was held inside a cave for more than an hour after being bitten multiple times, officials said.

Christopher Petronino, 50, of Boonton, was out hiking with three boy scouts when he wanted to show the kids a small Talus cave, which he has visited since the early 1980s, New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife spokesman Bob Considine said Sunday night.

Petronino told authorities he’s never encountered a bear in this location.

Petronino traveled up to a rocky hillside where there was a low-lying crevasse in the wall that gave entry to the cave, Considine said. The Scout master entered the cave, and a black bear grabbed his foot and pulled him further into the cave, Considine said.

See related: Bear That Attacked Scoutmaster Not Aggressive, Won’t Be Euthanized: State

The bear then bit Petronino on his leg, right shoulder, and left shoulder. Petronino hit the bear twice in the head with a rock hammer, then pulled his sweatshirt over his head and curled into the fetal position, Considine said.

He yelled to the scouts to leave and get help. The scouts called 9-1-1 with Petronino’s phone, but were unable to answer some of the dispatcher’s questions about the location, keeping Petronino inside the cave with the bear, who continued to “huff” at the Scout master, Considine said.

Petronino then told the scouts to leave any food at the mouth of the cave. The scouts then saw the bear eventually walk out of the cave, and a dog that had accompanied them barked at the bear, Considine said, forcing the bruin to run up a hill and away from the scene.

When Petronino heard the bear leave the cave, he exited and retrieved his phone and called 9-1-1.

The time from the scouts’ first call and Petronino’s was one hour and 20 minutes.

Petronino did not observe any tags on the bear and could not estimate its size.