Once upon a time in Southern California, a person wore a bear costume to damage luxury cars so friends could allegedly cash in on hefty insurance payouts.
Four people in the Los Angeles area were arrested and charged with insurance fraud and conspiracy after claiming their fancy vehicles were damaged by a bear — only for insurance investigators to discover the destruction was actually caused by a person wearing a bear costume.
The fake beast allegedly broke into a 2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost on Jan. 8 that was parked just northeast of Los Angeles at Lake Arrowhead in the San Bernardino Mountains, according to the California Department of Insurance Fraud Division.
The owner of the luxury car submitted a video to the insurance company to seemingly prove that the creature wrecked the vehicle, but the Insurance Department didn’t bite.
“Upon further scrutiny of the video, the investigation determined the bear was actually a person in a bear costume,” the California Department of Insurance and Fraud revealed in a statement.
Ruben Tamrazian, Ararat Chirkinian, Vahe Muradkhanyan and Alfiya Zuckerman have all been charged with insurance fraud and conspiracy.
“The insurance companies were defrauded of $141,839, because of the alleged fraud committed by the suspects,” the California Department of Insurance stated.
The state insurance department also released footage from what they call “Operation Bear Claw” — detailing the alleged animal production.
Surveillance video showed the alleged beast entering the window of the Rolls-Royce’s passenger side but as it makes its way into the back seat, the animal’s “fur” appeared very shiny and smooth – like it was a halloween costume bought at a store as opposed to a creature in the wild.
Photographs released by investigators revealed the interior of the Rolls-Royce had very straight and parallel marks damaging the seats and doors, which the car owner claimed was from the bear’s claws.
A biologist from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife reviewed footage and suggested it was a person in a costume. Later, the bear costume was found in the suspects’ home after a search warrant was executed.
A photograph of the outfit showed what appeared to be a onesie with bear-like fur, attachable paws for the feet and hands and claw-like blades that seemingly could have been used to scratch the seats.
This incident wasn’t the only suspicious claim.
Detectives found two additional insurance claims with two different insurance companies where the suspects used the same date and location for their wild claims.
“Each of those claims involved two different vehicles, a 2015 Mercedes G63 AMG and a 2022 Mercedes E350, and the suspects again appeared to use a bear costume to make it appear that a bear also entered and damaged those vehicles,” the California Department of Insurance claimed.
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