As soon as upon a time in Southern California, a person wore a bear swimsuit to break luxurious automobiles so his pals might money in on hefty insurance coverage payouts.
4 folks within the Los Angeles space have been arrested and charged with insurance coverage fraud and conspiracy after they claimed their luxurious autos had been broken by a bear — just for insurance coverage investigators to find the destruction was truly attributable to a person sporting a swimsuit of a bear.
The faux beast allegedly broke right into a 2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost on Jan. 8, which was parked northeast of Los Angeles at Lake Arrowhead within the San Bernardino Mountains, based on the California Division of Insurance coverage Fraud.
The proprietor of the luxurious automobile despatched a video to the insurance coverage firm to show the creature crashed the automobile, however the insurance coverage division did not chunk.
“Upon additional overview of the video, the investigation decided that the bear was truly an individual in a bear costume,” California Division of Insurance coverage and Fraud revealed in a statement.
California Division of Insurance coverage
Ruben Tamrazyan, Ararat Chirkinian, Vahe Muradkhanyan and Alfia Zukerman are charged with insurance coverage fraud and conspiracy.
“Insurance coverage corporations had been defrauded of $141,839 as a result of alleged fraud perpetrated by the suspects,” the California Division of Insurance coverage mentioned.
The state insurance coverage division additionally launched footage of what they name “Operation Bear Claw” — detailing the alleged animal manufacturing.
Surveillance video confirmed the suspected beast coming into the Rolls-Royce’s passenger-side window, however because it made its option to the again seat, the animal’s “fur” appeared very shiny and clean – as if it was a Halloween costume purchased from a retailer versus a creature within the wild.
Photographs launched by investigators reveal that the inside of the Rolls-Royce has many straight and parallel marks damaging the seats and doorways, which the automobile’s proprietor claims are from the bear’s claws.
A biologist with the California Division of Fish and Wildlife reviewed the footage and assumed it was a person in a swimsuit. The bear swimsuit was later discovered on the suspects’ residence after a search warrant was issued.
A photograph of the outfit reveals what seems to be a jumpsuit with bear-like fur, attachable paws for toes and arms, and claw-like blades that appear like they might be used to scratch seats.
This incident was not the one suspicious declare.
Detectives discovered two extra insurance coverage claims with two totally different insurance coverage corporations the place the suspects used the identical date and placement for his or her wild claims.
“Every of those claims concerned two totally different autos, a 2015 Mercedes G63 AMG and a 2022 Mercedes E350, and the suspects once more appeared to make use of a bear swimsuit to make it seem {that a} bear had additionally entered and broken these autos “, California Dept. of Claimed Insurance coverage.
