Four Los Angeles residents stand accused of defrauding insurance companies when they claimed a bear broke into their luxury cars and damaged vehicles, but investigators determined the wild animal was a human in costume.
In what was aptly dubbed “Operation Bear Claw,” the California Insurance Department said Ruben Tamrazian, 26, of Glendale; Ararat Chirkinian, 39, of Glendale; Vahe Muradkhanyan, 32, of Glendale; and Alfiya Zuckerman, 39, of Valley Village, are all facing charges of insurance fraud and conspiracy.
The group allegedly provided insurance companies with surveillance video taken in January in Lake Arrowhead in the San Bernardino Mountains that allegedly showed a bear moving inside a Rolls-Royce and two Mercedes vehicles.
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The California Department of Insurance (CDI) provided photos of the damage inside the cars that appeared to be claw marks on seats and doors.
The footage from the first video shows the “bear” getting into a 2010 Rolls Royce Ghost and moving around the inside.
“Upon further scrutiny of …