Deputy shoots bear that charges him near Tahoe

RENO (AP) - A sheriff's deputy at Lake Tahoe shot and killed a 600-pound black bear that rushed him after wildlife officials tried to flush the hibernating animal out from under a condominium.

Nevada wildlife biologist Carl Lackey says they found the 10-year-old male bear Tuesday under the home in the Bitterbrush development in Incline Village. It made the surprise attack on the Washoe County deputy after it emerged from its makeshift den and wildlife officials shot it with a tranquilizer dart.

Lackey said, "One more step and the bear would have been on him."

He said the bear had been captured and collared in the past because it was breaking into homes but it was not the 700-pound one that broke into as many as 50 homes around the Incline area over the past year.