Pohatcong man charged after making up backyard bear encounter

POHATCONG, New Jersey (WABC) -- A New Jersey man who said he came face to face with a bear while feeding his pet outside his home is now facing charges after police say he made up the story.

The Pohatcong man had said he encountered and startled the bear when he went out his back door to feed the cat around 9:30 a.m. last Wednesday, and that the roughly 500-pound animal had swiped at him and cut his arm and hand.

Police identified him as 57-year-old Jeffrey Wilson, who they found bleeding from the left arm upon responding to a call of a bear attack.

Pohatcong Township police detectives and conservation officers from the New Jersey Division of Fish and Game conducted an investigation into the alleged attack, and they determined that Wilson's injuries were pre-existing from a non-related accident that happened the night before.

The conclusions were determined by law enforcement and medical personnel who specialize in animal encounters, along with blood stain analysis.

Wilson is charged with one count of providing false information to law enforcement, and he is due in court in September.