LAKEPORT >> Matthew Charles Outen was sentenced to 90 days in jail for illegally shooting and killing a black bear last year.
The Middletown resident was also given three years of formal felony probation. Outen must also pay a fine of $1,940 and is subject to a search and seizure. The handgun used in the April 2017 incident was ordered forfeited, and he is prohibited from owning or possessing any firearms.
On January 8, Outen pled guilty to a felony violation of negligent discharge of a firearm, and a misdemeanor violation of illegally killing a bear when the hunting season was not open. He was sentenced last week at Lake County Superior Court by Judge Andrew S. Blum.
The charges stem from an investigation on April 3, after California Department of Fish and Wildlife wardens Ryan Stephenson, Timothy Little, and Mike Pascoe received a report that the body of a bear was in a creek near Wardlaw Street bridge in Middletown after someone had fatally shot it.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard F. Hinchcliff said, Outen claimed during an interview that he heard a bear in the creek and then ran home to find the animal behind his home in the creek. As a result, he grabbed a .380 semi-automatic handgun and attempted to “shoo” the bear away.
Outen reportedly told authorities he fired four shots at the bear as it approached him, three of which missed and one that killed the animal. He added that the encounter lasted about 30 minutes.
When asked why he shot the bear, Outen reportedly said: “instinct kicked in.”
A witness who was at the scene when the bear was shot contradicted the suspect’s testimony, saying the animal did not attempt to charge at Outen. Wardens confirmed that the bear was shot in the back of the neck and determined Outen had fired shots in the direction of houses, roads and several people who were watching the bear.
Another witness said the bear did not present any danger and instead attempted to hide behind some brush, facing its back to Outen during the shooting. The witness also reported that those present during the incident yelled at Outen not to fire the weapon because the bear was between him and witnesses.
Instead, Outen made threats to hurt anyone who reported the incident to authorities physically, the witness added.
Hinchcliff said that several other witnesses testified that they had watched the bear play in the creek and did not believe the bear to be a nuisance.
