A gaggle of Los Angeles County residents had been arrested after they allegedly staged bear assaults utilizing a dressing up as a way to obtain payouts from their automobile insurance coverage suppliers, investigators say.
The investigation, which was dubbed “Operation Bear Claw,” discovered that three of the 4 people submitted related insurance coverage claims after a so-called bear wrecked the inside of their automobiles within the San Bernardino County mountain group Lake Arrowhead, in line with a launch from the California Division of Insurance coverage.
California Division of Insurance coverage
Investigators started to look into the incident after one of many insurance coverage corporations suspected fraud, revealing that a number of claims had been filed for a similar location on Jan. 28, 2024. The claimants allegedly supplied video footage to their insurance coverage corporations of a supposed bear damaging the inside of their autos.
These movies, all in the very same location outdoors of a residence within the space, meant to point out the bear coming into the automobiles and crawling round. However “upon additional scrutiny of the video, the investigation decided the bear was truly an individual in a bear costume,” the CDI launch stated.
With a view to guarantee that their beliefs weren’t unfounded, investigators sought the assistance a biologist from the California Division of Fish and Wildlife, who reviewed all three movies of the phony assaults and in addition opined that it was “clearly a human in a bear swimsuit.”
California Division of Insurance coverage
Pictures supplied by insurance coverage investigators confirmed surface-level scratch marks to the seats and door panels of the automobiles.
The claims, which resulted within the insurance coverage corporations being defrauded of a whopping $141,839, had been made for a 2010 Rolls Royce Ghost, a 2015 Mercedes G63 AMG and a 2022 Mercedes E350, investigators famous.
The 4 suspects, recognized as Glendale residents Ruben Tamrazian, 26, Ararat Chirkinian, 39, Vahe Muradkhanyan, 32 and Valley Village lady Alfiya Zuckerman, 39, had been all arrested with the assistance of Glendale police and the California Freeway Patrol, the discharge stated.
Every was charged with insurance coverage fraud and conspiracy.