Black Bear Attacks and Injures California Jogger

A 24-year-old man who was out for a run in the California foothills barely escaped a mother black bear that attacked and injured him, leaving him with deep scratches and multiple bite wounds.

According to CBS News, the attack happened Monday, August 12 on North Fold Road in Tuolumne County. The man was jogging when he came across a bear cub on the road. The mother bear then came out of the trees and chased the runner. The man attempted to hide behind a tree, but the mother bear managed to attack him, pushing him into a ditch. She then scratched his back and bit his thigh, right where the man happened to have a tattoo of a bear.

While on the ground, he broke a stick across the bear's face and managed to run away.

"I see this young man running down the road and a bear literally chasing and biting at him, and his shirt flapping in the wind. It was just shredded and he didn't have one of his shoes on all the way, so he's literally running with the shoe not on," said Heather Silfies, who heard the commotion from her home.

The man jumped on top of a nearby parked car, which then caused the owner, Silfies, to come out. She yelled at the bear and it ran away.

"The young man is standing on the roof of our Escalade," Silfies said. "The bear is standing at the Escalade and she's trying to climb up. So she has her foot on the running board and she's literally jumping up at him, wanting to get on the roof, just wanting to attack him."

Silfies and her family cared for the jogger until paramedics arrived.

"We feel blessed," Silfies said. "We were there to be able to help this kid in need because it was one of these situations that it could have been life or death."

The Tuolumne County Sheriff's Office said the bear was gone when deputies arrived.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is investigating the incident and confirmed to CBS News that when they find the bear, it will be euthanized.