Stuffed bear back in Eagle’s Nest
Roberto M. Esquivel/HeraldStandard.com
Uniontown city employee Rob Allman lifts a stuffed and mounted bear Thursday that was reportedly stolen from the Eagle’s Nest on Morgantown Street on Sunday.
Roberto M. Esquivel/HeraldStandard.com
From left, Uniontown police Chief Jason A. Cox and city employee Rob Allman carry a stuffed and mounted bear to the Eagles Nest, Morgantown Street, Thursday morning.
The great Uniontown bear hunt is over.
Uniontown police recovered an 8-foot tall mounted brown bear Thursday morning after the massive animal was stolen from a bar Sunday.
While multiple media reports Wednesday morning indicated that the bear had been found and that at least one suspect had turned himself in to police, Uniontown police Chief Jason A. Cox said Thursday morning that investigators did not make official contact with any suspects until nearly 11 p.m. Wednesday.
He said that officers were able to retrieve the stuffed animal, which weighs about 150 or 200 pounds, from a Uniontown residence around 10 a.m. Thursday and that no one ever had been in police custody as a result of the heist.
The bear, which is valued at $10,000, was stolen from the Eagle’s Nest on Morgantown Street early Sunday.
Police said around 2 a.m., just a few hours before the animal was stolen, as many as five men tossed the standing-mount bear from a second-floor deck at the bar to a concrete patio below, breaking the base the bear was mounted on and damaging the bears’ face and paws.
Police were called and moved the bear under some steps until it could be taken back inside the bar.
However, sometime during the next four hours, the bear was stolen, police said.
According to Officer Frederick Kampert, he made contact with the suspects late Wednesday and the men told police that they had intended to take the bear as a prank and return it the following day. However, Kampert said that the men wanted to wait to return the damaged bear until after it was repaired.
Kampert said that the men pondered how to get the mount repaired and return the bear without getting into any additional trouble and decided to call the bar’s owner, John El-Ayazra, on Tuesday night and admitted to stealing the animal.
“I’m glad to have the bear back,” El-Ayazra said Thursday, noting that the suspects promised to pay to have the bear restored.
Cox said that police will have a taxidermist examine the bear and get an estimate of the damage.
He said police are continuing to investigate and charges are pending against the men.