--- title: "Joyriding Bear Crashes Subaru Into Mailbox in Most Colorado Story Ever" description: "The only things missing are legal weed and a can of Coors." date: "2017-08-08" modified: "2017-08-08" authors: - name: "Kyle Cheromcha" job_title: "Editor-in-Chief" link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/kyle-cheromcha" url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/13293/joyriding-bear-crashes-subaru-into-mailbox-in-most-colorado-story-ever" categories: - "News" - "News by Brand" - "Subaru News" tags: - "bear" - "Colorado" - "Subaru" --- # Joyriding Bear Crashes Subaru Into Mailbox in Most Colorado Story Ever ![]() *\www.thedrive.com\* It's all [fun and games]() until the bears start learning how to drive. A couple in Durango, Colorado recently got a rude wake-up call when a bear crashed a Subaru Forester into their mailbox early in the morning and abandoned the trashed car on their front lawn, the [*Durango Herald* reports.]() The unidentified *Ursus* apparently broke into their neighbor's Subaru at some point overnight. In its quest for food, the bear did a real number on the interior, tearing out the steering column, destroying the radio, and defecating on the seats. Failing to find any grub, the bear decided to set off for the nearest grocery store. All right, not quite. In reality, Durango Police say the bear somehow disengaged the parking brake and bumped the manual transmission out of gear, causing the Subaru to roll backwards out of the homeowner's driveway, down the road, and straight onto Ron Cornelius's lawn. "Usually, I don't get up at 5 o'clock unless there is a bear driving a car down the street,” Cornelius joked [with the *Herald.*]() The impact broke the Subaru's rear window, allowing the bear to escape before Cornelius and his wife could get up to investigate. They initially thought a person might have been responsible for the fateful joyride, but the damage in the car obviously points to a bear. Plus, the droppings. This isn't the first notable [bear-on-Subaru incident]() we've seen in Colorado this year, [or even the second.]() A Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesman told the *Herald* that a late frost in early June impacted the acorn and berry harvest that the animals normally survive on, driving them to seek out other food sources. Durango officials have already responded to over 200 bear complaints so far this year, compared to 56 for all of 2016. In the meantime, if you live in Colorado—maybe consider locking your car for the rest of the summer. ## Author Overseeing an expert staff of writers and editors from his lair in Los Angeles, Kyle shapes The Drive’s singular approach to covering the automotive industry and car culture. He’s been with the site as a writer since 2017, taking over as editor in 2019. On a daily basis, Kyle is responsible for directing The Drive's editorial news and car review content strategies, setting special coverage priorities, managing complex reporting projects, and ensuring what you read on the page meets our high internal standards for quality and trustworthiness. He is also the executive producer of The Drive's YouTube channel, which was relaunched in February 2024 to great acclaim and has accumulated over 14M new views in its first year back on the scene. He hosts a biweekly series on the channel where he breaks down fascinating and complicated stories from the automotive world. ### Author social links [Bluesky]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()