Roaming bear traps NJ paramedics inside building

[May 18, 2010]  WAYNE, N.J. (AP) -- Paramedics in New Jersey have been slowed responding to an emergency call by a bear that kept them trapped inside their building.

A nearby contractor getting something from his truck says he came face to face with a 200-pound bear but threw a carpenter's folding ruler at it and scared it away.

Police Capt. Paul Ireland says the bear was gone by the time officers arrived Monday morning at the St. Joseph's Wayne Hospital ambulance building in Wayne, just west of New York City. He says an ambulance then was able to get out.

Officers temporarily stopped traffic while they scared away two bear cubs that were wandering near the hospital and William Paterson University. There's been no sign of the cubs' mother.

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Information from: The Record of Bergen County, http://www.northjersey.com/

[Associated Press]

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