A Farmington woman discovered a bear in her driver's seat honking the horn after it entered the car and damaged the interior.
FARMINGTON, Connecticut — A Farmington woman got an unexpected surprise Thursday morning when she discovered a black bear sitting in the driver’s seat of her car, repeatedly honking the horn.
Hillary Ribaudo was working from her home office, located above the driveway, when she heard honking outside.
“I never expected that a bear could open our car door. That was not on my radar at all,” Ribaudo said.
She initially thought it was a delivery or a visit from her in-laws. But after the honking continued for about 15 minutes, she looked out her window — and was stunned.
“I looked in the driver's side door, the door was closed, there was a bear sitting in my driver’s seat with the paws on the steering wheel honking the horn like this, like a person,” she said.
Her husband, Ted Ribaudo, was at work when she began frantically calling and texting him.
“I assumed the worst, I was like oh my God did somebody die or what not because it was multiple calls in a row, then when I stepped out of the room and looked at the texts I was like oh my God,” he said.
After taking a moment to assess the situation, Hillary found a set of spare keys and remotely opened the trunk from her office window. The bear eventually exited the car through the trunk.
“I thought it was a human at first, again the bear was upright seated in the seat pressing on the horn, it was just this very disorienting situation and then to realize oh my God that is a bear,” she said.
The Ribaudos say this isn’t their first bear encounter. Ted once tried to scare a bear away from their trash but quickly reconsidered.
“I went over and was clapping and then the bear gets up on its two legs and growls back at me, then I ran back into the garage and went up here looking at it eat the garbage, then I realized he had two small cubs,” he said.
Hillary says from now on the cars stay locked.
“Absolutely will be locking the car at all times now, or will park in the garage haha,” she said.
The couple said bear sightings in their yard happen nearly once a week. Fortunately, the damage to the car wasn't major. It did tear up part of the driver's side door and the headliner
It was towed Friday morning to Bristol Auto Center, they hope to have it repaired soon.
Joe Monte is a Multi-Skilled Journalist for FOX61 News. He can be reached at . Follow him on for more. 
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