Bear Breaks Into Nursing Home, Climbs Into Beds With Surprised Residents

Certified nursing assistant Charlene Elliott was working the night shift at a Pittsburgh-area nursing home when she came face-to-face with an unexpected intruder—a young black bear.

The bear broke into St. Andrew’s Village around 11 p.m., causing a commotion.
“I was sitting there at our nurse’s station and I heard a big crash,” Elliott told WPXI Channel 11. “I thought it was one of the aides that fell. I got up and I’d seen it was a bear coming down the hall towards me!”

The bear had crawled in through a window, shattering the glass. Elliott immediately went into emergency mode, thinking about how to protect the residents and get the bear out of the building.

She shouted for residents to shut their doors, but even then, the bear entered several rooms—and even crawled into bed with two residents. Elliott said the bear got nose-to-nose with one of them. She instructed everyone to stay still and not touch the bear for fear it might attack.

One resident even offered her sandwich to the bear. “She’s like, ‘Well, go ahead and give it my sandwich!’ and I’m like, ‘No, we can’t do that!’” Elliott said.

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The bear remained inside the facility for about 15 minutes before staff managed to lure it outside—with a Rice Krispies treat and a walker used to guide the bear to the door.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission later trapped the bear using a baited cage filled with donuts and pastries.

Presbyterian Senior Living, which operates the nursing home, said in a statement: “We are incredibly proud of our team’s quick thinking and dedication to ensuring the safety of everyone in our community. To prevent future wildlife encounters, the game warden safely relocated the bear to a more suitable habitat today, and all bird feeders on our campus were removed.”

Thanks to Charlene Elliott’s calm and cool actions, what could have been a frightening situation turned into an oddly endearing story of courage, community, and a bear with a sweet tooth.