A group of Los Angeles County residents were arrested after allegedly carrying out bear attacks using a costume to receive payouts from their auto insurers, investigators say.
The investigation, dubbed “Operation Bear Claw,” found that three of four individuals filed similar insurance claims after a suspected bear destroyed the interior of their cars in the mountain community of Lake Arrowhead in San Bernardino County, according to a press release from the California Department of Insurance.
Investigators began looking into the incident after one of the insurance companies suspected fraud, revealing that multiple claims had been filed for the same location on January 28, 2024. The plaintiffs allegedly provided video footage to their insurance companies of an alleged bear damaging the interior. of their vehicles.
California Department of Insurance
Those videos, all in the exact same location outside an area home, were intended to show the bear entering cars and crawling around. But “upon further review of the video, the investigation revealed that the bear was actually a person in a bear costume,” the CDI report said.
To ensure their beliefs were not unfounded, the researchers sought the help of a California Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist, who reviewed all three videos of the hoax attacks and also opined that it was “clearly a man in a bear suit’. .”
Photos from insurance investigators showed large scratches on the cars’ seats and door panels.
The claims, which resulted in insurance companies being defrauded as much as $141,839, were filed for a 2010 Rolls Royce Ghost, a 2015 Mercedes G63 AMG and a 2022 Mercedes E350, investigators noted.
The four suspects, identified as Glendale residents Ruben Tamrazian, 26, Ararat Chirkinian, 39, Vahe Muradkhanyan, 32, and Valley Village woman Alfiya Zuckerman, 39, were all arrested with the assistance of Glendale police and the California Highway Patrol, the release said.
Both were charged with insurance fraud and conspiracy.
