Human in Bear Suit Was Used to Defraud Insurance Companies, Officials Say

A video that was submitted as part of an insurance claim in January appeared to capture a disturbing scene: a brown bear ransacking a Rolls-Royce that was parked in a Southern California driveway.Similar videos involving other luxury cars were submitted to two additional insurers, and the three companies collectively paid out more than $140,000.But something about the footage seemed off, and one of the companies reported the video and images of claw marks on the upholstery to the California Department of Insurance.On Wednesday, after concluding an investigation it called Operation Bear Claw, the department said it had determined that the bear was not, in fact, a bear.“Upon further scrutiny of the video, the investigation determined the bear was actually a person in a bear costume,” the department said in a news release.

The scratch marks inside the vehicles, it said, were made with a claw-like kitchen accessory usually used to shred meat.The California Department of Insurance said on Wednesday that four Los Angeles County residents had been arrested.Ruben Tamrazian, 26; Ararat Chirkinian, 39; and Vahe Muradkhanyan, 32, all of Glendale, Calif.; and Alfiya Zuckerman, 39, of Los Angeles, each face charges of insurance fraud and conspiracy, the department said....