Disturbing surveillance video has surfaced showing a three-year-old boy being pursued by a large coyote as he dashed through the front gate of his family’s Pasadena residence in Los Angeles County.
The alarming footage, captured on Monday, depicts the young boy frantically fleeing and calling out for his mother while the wild animal chased him into their driveway on Tamarac Drive.
Fortunately, the toddler emerged from the incident unscathed, though the experience left his family profoundly unsettled.
“Sal went out the gate as he usually does before me,” recounted the boy’s mother, Aida Svelto, to ABC 7. “Then I heard a scream, and Sal came running back. He clung to my legs, and I screamed when I saw a huge coyote.”
The boy’s father, Leonard Bessemer, was equally shocked by the event.
“She texted me saying, ‘A coyote just chased Sal,’ and I thought, ‘How?’ I checked the cameras and was completely taken aback,” Bessemer shared with ABC 7.
Coyotes are very common in Southern California, though attacks on humans are rare.
A wildlife expert said that the animals are especially active this time of year.
“It’s mating season, so they are out there at all times of the day. We’re going to be seeing them. We have seen them more in the last few weeks,” Pasadena Humane’s Kevin McManus told ABC 7. “Just be extra cautious. Keep an eye on your kids. Keep an eye on your pets.”
The boy’s parents said they have seen coyotes in the street, but never this close.
I really didn’t feel nervous. Now I’m nervous,” Svelto told ABC 7. “This one was bigger and scarier, and I just really didn’t think that he would go after a kid. It’s one thing to see them go after a chihuahua or rabbit or whatever, but he’s pretty big, so it was scary.”
There were several run-ins between coyotes and kids in Southern California last year, including one that hospitalized a 3-year-old girl in San Diego.
A 6-year-old boy was also attacked at a softball game in the Los Angeles area.
Coyotes are known for attacking dogs, especially smaller ones, which they view as vulnerable.
