Update: North Adams man who chased bear was trying to protect kids

Posted Wednesday, May 13, 2015 4:36 am

NORTH ADAMS — Police say a city man believed he was protecting neighborhood children when he chased a bear into the woods with a dull hatchet near his home on Monday.

Bradford Carpenter, 60, of Park Avenue, apparently had a bit too much to drink before spotting the bear and giving chase, police said. He was placed in protective custody and released Tuesday morning.

"[He was] claiming he was trying to protect children," said North Adams Police Sgt. James Burdick. "I would guess in his inebriated state he felt he was doing good."

Police received a call about 7:45 p.m. reporting that a bear was headed into the woods near Sullivan School and "people are following in." Carpenter was captured a short time later. He has not been charged.

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He apparently was unsuccessful in catching the bear.

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"We've never had anybody here, as long as I've been here, ever chase a bear before — and God knows we've had a lot of bear reports," Burdick said.

In a Facebook post that quickly went viral through the Berkshires on Monday night, the North Adams Police Department wrote that "the hatchet man" was safely in custody after he chased a bear through the woods.

The post advised residents not to confront bears, but rather call the police for assistance.

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"We certainly don't need anyone going all Davy Crockett chasing it through the woods drunk with a dull hatchet," the post stated. "It is just a bad idea and not going to end well."

In an Eagle story published last week, state wildlife officials said that the black bear population has jumped from about 100 in the 1970s to about 4,500 today — and the animals have been in residential neighborhoods scouting out garbage cans for an easy meal.

"The way we act around bears is going to govern how they will act around us," said Marion Larson, chief of information and education for the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. "We can't change bear behavior, but we need to change our own behavior."