Remember that video that went viral earlier this summer of an Illinois woman being charged by a grizzly. Now the woman is about to feel teeth of a different sort. The woman is now facing criminal charges.
The highly published video captured her being bluff charged by a grizzly bear while she was taking photos in Yellowstone National Park. The woman was among a small group of tourists who spotted the female grizzly and her two cubs on May 15th in the Roaring Mountain area of the park.
The Billings Gazette reports that Investigators got a warrant to search the suspect’s social media posts after receiving a tip from someone who had seen a posting of the video with the suspect’s name tagged. As a result, Samantha Dehring of Carol Stream, Illinois, has been charged in US District Court in Yellowstone Park with feeding, touching, teasing, frightening or intentionally disturbing wildlife and violating closures and use limits.
The sow was about 15 feet from the woman, investigators state in court records. Park regulations require visitors to stay at least 300 feet away from bears and wolves. Dehring is set to appear in court August 26th in Mammoth.
