Watch: Thieving bear steals workers' lunch from pickup truck in California

June 19 (UPI) -- A black bear was caught on camera in California stealing a cooler from the back of a truck and settling in to eat lunch.

Barry Meidinger said he spotted the scene unfolding outside his Tahoe City cabin and recorded video as the bear walked off with the cooler while stunned workers remodeling balconies in the neighborhood watched from a distance.

"The bear got the cooler and ate the entire lunch by the deck," Meidinger told KCRA-TV.

Meidinger said the workers were able to recover their empty cooler after a neighbor chased the bear into the nearby woods.

The incident comes just a few days after a black bear in Sierra Madre, Calif., was blamed for five break-ins in a two-hour period.

One of the homes entered by the bear was occupied at the time, but the woman inside was able to safely lock herself into a bedroom until the animal left.