Four individuals who allegedly used a bear costume to damage their luxury cars in an attempt to defraud insurance companies were arrested this Wednesday in California.
Suspicions arose when a claim was filed for the damaged seats and doors of a Rolls Royce Ghost, an exclusive vehicle valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars when brand new.
The claimants stated that a bear entered the car while it was parked in Lake Arrowhead, a location in a mountainous area on the outskirts of Los Angeles, and caused havoc, as reported by Afp.
To support their claim, they submitted photos of the damages, as well as security camera footage that, according to them, showed the animal inside the vehicle.
In the video, in low-quality black and white images, a furry figure can be seen inside the cars, along with clear images of the damages to the leather upholstery and dashboard.
However, the insurance company became suspicious and contacted detectives specializing in insurance fraud investigations.
"After further analysis of the video, the investigation determined that the bear was actually a person in a bear costume," stated a press release from the California Department of Insurance.
The department also released a photograph of a life-size bear costume with sharp claws, allegedly worn by the now detained individuals, who have been charged with insurance fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud.
They used a kitchen utensil that chefs use to shred meat for the claws.
The detectives from the Department of Insurance who investigated the case named the operation "Bear Claw," as reported by Efe.
The detectives in charge of the case reviewed the documents and found two more claims against other insurers alleging that a bear had damaged other vehicles in the same location: a 2015 Mercedes G63 AMG and a 2022 Mercedes E350.
Both claims also included videos of the same alleged bear inside the cars.
"To ensure that it was not a bear in the video, the Department brought in a biologist from the Department of Fish and Wildlife to review the three videos of supposed bears, who also stated that it was clearly a human in a bear costume," added Wednesday's press release.
"After executing a search warrant, the detectives found the bear costume at the suspects' residence."
Ruben Tamrazian, 26, Ararat Chirkinian, 39, Vahe Muradkhanyan, 32, and Alfiya Zuckerman, 39, were charged with defrauding insurers and conspiracy to file the claims, totaling over $140,000.
Black bears, native to California, occasionally enter vehicles in search of food.