A routine stop at a Family Dollar in Markleysburg, Pennsylvania, turned into a heart-pounding encounter with nature—and a sobering reminder of why responsible wildlife management matters. An 11-year-old boy, Cole Frazee, sprinted into the store with a black bear charging just behind him, and the dramatic moment—complete with the bear vaulting directly over the checkout counter—was captured on store video.
Cole had stepped outside to check on his father when he unexpectedly locked eyes with the bear. At first, he assumed it would simply wander off. It didn’t.
“I was like, ‘I’m probably going to get eaten by a bear,’” Cole recalled.
The bear suddenly advanced, forcing the boy to make a split-second decision.
“When it runs after me, I turn around, I run in the store, I’m screaming and stuff. The thing was like a foot and a half away from me,” he said.
Inside, the only other person was the cashier, who reacted instantly as Cole dashed up and down aisles looking for a place to hide. The bear barreled through the entrance as the boy and cashier scrambled atop the front counter—one of the few vantage points where they could see what the animal would do next.
“I took a left and the bear went straight,” Cole said, describing the chaotic chase.
When the bear turned toward the back of the store, the two saw their opening. The cashier grabbed her belongings—“her coat, the keys and the phone,” Cole said—and both bolted out the door. Safe inside a locked vehicle outside, Cole finally caught his breath.
“I was relieved,” he said. “It was definitely a crazy experience.”
For nearly ten minutes, the bear wandered through the Family Dollar, eventually circling back to the counter and leaping over the very spot where the boy had been moments earlier. Only after it wandered back out did the danger fully pass.
By the next morning, Cole’s classmates were buzzing with disbelief. He admits the story will follow him for years: “That’s like one in a million right there,” he said.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission later noted that bears are particularly active this time of year as they search more aggressively for food—activity that increases the likelihood of dangerous encounters.
