Customer walks into liquor store – without noticing bear standing right next to him, video shows

Over the years, liquor stores are likely to see a lot of strange patrons. But it wasn’t a naked man or a guy in a Spider-Man mask who tried to get inside a Bristol, Conn., booze shop on Monday — it was a curious (and possibly thirsty) black bear.

“I was thinking, ‘Is this really happening? Is there a bear in here?’ ” June Curtin, the owner of Crazy Bruce’s Liquor, told the Boston Globe. “It was very scary.”

Security camera captured the bear bounding up to the front door of the store as cars putter around the parking lot outside. There doesn’t appear to be anyone else on the sidewalk. The bear stops outside the building, turns around and walks right through the front door.

Another video shows a view from the inside of the shop, where the bear can be seen exploring the vestibule that separates the sales floor from the outside. A worker at the store walks past the door before doing a double-take and rushing up to the glass. He quickly latches the door at the top of the frame, locking the bear out of the main area.

“One of the guys saw him outside and at first thought it was a big dog, but when he came into the foyer you could see,” the store’s assistant manager told the Hartford Courant.

The employee, Daniel Thibodeau, told NBC Connecticut he acted on “instinct.”

The bear continues to look around and wanders to the left, when suddenly a customer casually strolls into the vestibule. He walks right past the bear without seeming to notice a thing.

“He was looking straight on and never saw the bear. The manager was yelling, ‘There’s a bear there, get into the store!’” Curtin told the Boston Globe. “When he got into the store and the door was closed, the customer looked back out and he couldn’t believe it.”

After a few moments, the bear ran off and the store was reopened, NBC Connecticut reported. Nobody was hurt, and authorities didn’t take any action.

Having averted a potentially hairy situation, the store is having a little fun with the encounter. On Facebook, they shared a copy of the video and said “Even our furry friends think our prices are “bearly” believable!”