A Dalton man who hit a black bear late Saturday night on I-75 with his truck said he was told by a Georgia State Patrol trooper he could keep the bear. He said later an official with the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) told him he couldn’t keep the bear and that officials would come get it Monday night.

Mike Jewel of Dalton was pulling a boat behind his Ford F-250 truck after spending time with his family at the Riverbend Festival in Chattanooga. He hit the bear around 11:30 p.m. near the Tunnel Hill-Varnell exit.

RNT