Conservation officers are searching for a bear that charged at a Port Coquitlam family in their front yard late Wednesday night.

Tammy Cindric was arriving home from the airport with her kids, including her three-year-old son, around 11 p.m. when she spotted the black bear near her Cedar Drive property.

Moments later, after she’d exited the car, the animal started charging. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

“My brother-in-law came out and the bear was making sounds so my brother-in-law made sounds at the bear and scared the bear away from us,” Cindric said.

“It was very scary.”

Conservation officers said the animal was bluff charging, which is a defence mechanism. They believe the bear had been in the family’s yard, was spooked by the approaching car, and ran into the road, where it was struck by another vehicle.

Conservation officers swept the area, but couldn’t track down the roughly two-year-old bear. The extent of its injuries is unknown, but officer Clayton Debruin said it’s a good sign they couldn’t find the animal.

“It means he’s still mobile. Maybe he’s climbed a tree or he’s gone further north up to Burke Mountain,” he said. “That’s what our hope is – he’s still healthy enough to be mobile and survive on his own.”

Black bears are generally considered a low risk of attacking humans, but that risk increases slightly when they are injured, according to conservation officers.

Injured bears are also more likely to look for easy meals in garbage bins. Authorities urged residents to properly manage their attractants.

Currently, bylaw officers only hand out tickets when they're called to an area for complaints or reports of bear sightings. However, following the Wednesday night incident, officials said they plan to step up their patrol and proactively target problem areas. The move could mean a lot more $150 tickets until residents get the message.

Cindric said they found garbage scattered in their yard when they arrived home Wednesday night, but that it must have come from somewhere else in the neighbourhood because her family’s trash was properly secured.

Nearby residents told CTV News they’re used to wildlife in the area, and there have been several bear sightings there over the last week.

“It was at our house, next door to our house about a week ago when the power was out,” said Phillip Warburton. “I heard him knock over the neighbour’s garbage cans.”

Conservation officers haven’t confirmed whether the bear they’re searching for is that same one that’s been spotted in the area recently. They’re asking the public to report any sightings so they can monitor problem bears in the neighbourhood.

With reports from CTV Vancouver’s Sheila Scott and Scott Hurst