Coyote Chases 3-Year-Old Through Front Gate of Pasadena Home

A coyote chased a 3-year-old boy through the front gate of his family’s home on Tamarac Drive on Monday afternoon, a close call captured on surveillance video that his mother ended with a scream.

Salvo Bessemer was heading to the family car when the coyote pursued him back through the gate, according to ABC7/KABC, which first reported the incident and broadcast the footage. His mother, Aida Svelto, said the boy ran back and grabbed her.

“Sal went out the gate like he always does before me,” Svelto told ABC7. “Then I heard a scream, and Sal came running back. He grabbed onto my legs, then I screamed because I saw a big, giant coyote.”

The coyote fled. Salvo was not hurt.

The incident occurred during coyote mating season, which runs January through March and produces increased daytime activity, according to Kevin McManus, Public Relations and Marketing Director for Pasadena Humane.

“It’s mating season, so they are out there at all times of the day,” McManus told ABC7. “We’re going to be seeing them. We have seen them more in the last few weeks.”

The boy’s father, Leonard Bessemer, was not home at the time. He said he learned what happened from a text.

“She texted me. She’s like, ‘A coyote just chased Sal,’ and I was like, ‘How?'” Bessemer told ABC7. “I checked the cameras. I was flabbergasted.”

Svelto said the family has seen coyotes before in their hilly neighborhood but never so close.

“We have seen them, but they typically just stay on the street. I really didn’t feel nervous,” Svelto told ABC7. “Now I’m nervous.”

The encounter on Tamarac Drive came 16 days after the Pasadena Public Health Department and Pasadena Humane hosted a free coyote hazing workshop on February 7 at Pasadena Humane’s facility at 361 South Raymond Ave., according to the City of Pasadena’s City Manager’s weekly newsletter. The newsletter stated that January through March is coyote mating season and that “there is a higher chance of observing coyote activity as they mate and defend den locations.”

In April 2025, residents near Euclid Avenue and California Boulevard in Pasadena reported aggressive coyote encounters, including animals pursuing people walking their dogs, according to Pasadena Now and KTLA reporting at the time. The Pasadena City Council voted unanimously on July 17, 2023, to adopt a nonlethal coyote management plan, according to city records.

Coyote attacks on humans are rare. There has been only one documented fatal coyote attack on a human in California — in Glendale in 1981, when a coyote killed 3-year-old Kelly Keen, according to the Los Angeles Times.

McManus urged residents to exercise caution.

“Just be extra cautious,” McManus told ABC7. “Keep an eye on your kids. Keep an eye on your pets.”

Residents who encounter coyotes can report sightings to the Pasadena City Service Center at (626) 744-7311. Coyote attacks or aggressive behavior should be reported to Pasadena Humane at (626) 792-7151. Emergencies involving biting should be reported to 911.

Svelto said the encounter changed how she views the animals in her neighborhood.

“This one was bigger and scarier, and I just really didn’t think that he would go after a kid,” Svelto told ABC7. “It’s one thing to see them go after a chihuahua or rabbit or whatever, but he’s pretty big, so it was scary.”