MONTOUR COUNTY, Pa. — Around 9 p.m. Thursday night, John Swartz walked outside to his garage to turn off the water filling up his pool at his home near Danville in Montour County.
"Turned the corner, and I made about five steps and reached down to turn the water off, and I think as soon as I touched the spigot, I got pummeled," said John Swartz of Valley Township.
Swartz had been attacked by a black bear. A security camera outside the home caught the bear walking into Swartz's garage just a minute before the attack.
"It was something huge. It hurt, and it was loud, like a growl. I got hit against the shelves, and I remember holding my head," he said.
The bear had bitten him on the head.
"I felt the soreness in my head and the warmth from the blood running down my head while coming out of the garage," Swartz stated.
An ambulance took Swartz to the hospital. He got some stitches and was sent home. Swartz says he feels lucky to be alive. Especially after finding out the bear hit him again while running away.
"After we retrieved the video, I find out that me and the bear met again. I fell over the bear. Of course, I got a good scuff on my elbow," he added.
The Swartz family tells Newswatch 16 that the game commission came out after the bear attack Thursday night to place this trap in case the bear returns.
So far, the bear has not come back. Even so, Swartz now keeps his garage doors closed.
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