Bear Attacks NJ Man, Steals His Sandwich

TRENTON, N.J. (MyFOX ATLANTA) - A New Jersey man found out the hard way why you should never leave food sitting out. A black bear attacked the man as he was packing his car.

Henry Rouwendal was busy packing for a business trip when he ended up face-to-face with a bear in his driveway.

Rouwendal received a black eye, cuts and bruises after his battle with the bear.

"I basically got cold-cocked by this bear, 400 pounder [sic]," said Rouwendal.

Rouwendal said the bear came at him from the side.

"Once he knocked me down, I knew I was in trouble. So I turned around, rolled around, I kicked it in the face," recalled Rouwendal.

After getting knocked down, Rouwendal said he realized what attracted a bear. An Italian sub sandwich was sitting on the edge of the trunk of Rouwendal's SUV.

"The only thing it didn't like was the tomatoes, onions, lettuce and stuff," said Rouwendal.

The New Jersey Department of Fish and Wildlife didn't call the incident an attack because there was no evidence Rouwendal's injuries were from the attack and could have been caused when he fell in the driveway.

Vernon Township police disagreed and called the incident an attack.

"That hit me so fast, so hard, put me on the ground," said Rouwendal.

Rouwendal likened the incident to a knock-down, drag out fight with Mike Tyson. Rouwendal said he was supposed to walk his daughter down the aisle a few days following the run-in with the bear.

"Yeah, this is going to go real good with the wedding," said Rouwendal.

The bear involved in the altercation has not been caught yet.

Rouwendal has been supplied with free Italian subs for lunch for a month after a local store heard about his run-in with the sandwich loving bear.