The 400-pound male black bear who had become a regular visitor to Fillmore in recent months was struck by a car and killed on Friday night, June 5th, 2026. The car received major damage, passengers were unhurt. Photo credit Angel Esquivel.
At approximately 10 p.m. on Friday, June 5, the California Highway Patrol responded to calls of a bear struck by a vehicle on Highway 126 at Trestle Way, Fillmore.
A Dodge Charger received major damages; the passengers of the vehicle had minor injuries and were not transported.
The black bear was deceased from the crash when the Fillmore Fire Department arrived, according to Chief Keith Gurrola. The bear had a tag and a collar on him, and Gurrola recognized him instantly from his broken jaw.
The older black bear, a male, was “really heavy” and weighed “over 400 pounds” and his body was lying in the middle of eastbound Highway 126, Gurrola said. The bear needed to be moved to let traffic through and was dragged off the road by four firefighters.
The California Department of Transportation arrived and took the bear’s remains to the nearby Fillmore Fish Hatchery belonging to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The bear had visited Fillmore at least four times in the last couple of months, usually leaving on its own, though it had to be tranquilized back on April 1st when it was spotted in the 800 block of 4th Street. He was examined and he was deemed healthy aside from a few missing teeth. The bear was tagged, collared, and released into the hills north of Fillmore, before returning to the Two Rivers Park area a week ago, and finally Highway 126 on Friday night.
