Bear-ly legal? Men dress up as bears to destroy their own luxury cars for insurance money, four arrested

In a rather bizarre case of insurance fraud, four men were arrested in California for destroying their own luxury cars while dressing up as bears! The men, all residents of Los Angeles, were arrested after they sought insurance payouts, claiming that their luxury cars were destroyed by bears.??

Luxury cars damaged in bear attacks

The men had claimed that a 2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost, a 2015 Mercedes G63 AMG, and a 2022 Mercedes E350 were attacked by bears on January 28 in the forested resort town of Lake Arrowhead, causing interior damage.??

Bear attacks 'caught on camera'

They even provided photos of the damage, as well as footage from a security camera showing what appeared to be a bear entering a Rolls-Royce Ghost, an exclusive vehicle worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.??

The four claimants had sought over $140,000 as insurance payouts from the insurance company. However, the similarities in the nature of the damages and the security camera visuals of the bear made the insurance company suspicious.??

Operation Bear Claw??

An investigation, nicknamed Operation Bear Claw, was launched, and detectives concluded that the damages were caused by men dressed as bears.??

"Upon further scrutiny of the video, the investigation determined the bear was actually a person in a bear costume," said a release from the California Department of Insurance.??

The investigators even took the help of a biologist, who confirmed their suspicions.??

“To further ensure it was not actually a bear in the video, the Department had a biologist from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife review the three alleged bear videos, and they also opined it was clearly a human in a bear suit,” the Insurance Department said in a release.??

The four accused, identified as Ruben Tamrazian, Ararat Chirkinian, Vahe Muradkhanyan, and Alfiya Zuckerman, have been arrested and charged with insurance fraud and conspiracy. Investigators also found a bear costume and meat claws, which are used by chefs to shred meat, in the home of one of the suspects.

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