Watch: Video turns out to be fake bear star insurance companies, authorities say
The pictures are shocking. A brown bear – and it hasn’t been in Southern California for over a century – breaks into a 2010 Rolls Royce Ghost, apparently using a door handle. Then it crawls into the car, tearing the leather seats with its powerful claws.
Except it wasn’t a scary monster — it was a person in a bear costume using a kitchen tool designed to cut meat, authorities said.
And the video was not taken by chance, but a stage performance submitted as part of the four people’s insurance plan, according to the California Department of Insurance.
On Wednesday, Ruben Tamrazian, 26, of Glendale, Ararat Chirkinian, 39, of Glendale, Vahe Muradkhanyan, 32, of Glendale, and Alfiya Zuckerman, 39, of Valley Village were arrested and charged with insurance fraud, according to California. Department of Insurance.
The suspects are also accused of recording videos of the bears and two Mercedes-Benz vehicles – a 2015 G63 AMG and a 2022 E350 – and submitting the videos as part of fraudulent insurance claims, the department said.
A bear costume with meat claws was found at the home of the suspects on Wednesday, according to the insurance department.
Detectives say a bear costume was found at the suspect’s home.
(California Department of Insurance)
The Department of Insurance’s Fraud Unit began its investigation – dubbed Operation Bear Claw – after the insurance company reviewed a recording of the Jan. 28 Rolls Royce and began to suspect that something was wrong.
Upon closer inspection, the ferocious animal appeared to be a human in costume, detectives said.
Detectives then found two other insurance claims filed on the two Mercedes vehicles. All three insurance claims were filed with different companies and have the same date of loss and the same location, investigators said.
They decided to contact a specialist – to be sure, remember.
Investigators enlisted the help of a California Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist to review the three videos, which he agreed was clearly a person wearing a bear suit.
The suspects are accused of defrauding insurance companies of nearly $142,000.
On Wednesday, detectives executed a search and arrest warrant and found clothing and fingernails. The Glendale Police Department and the California Highway Patrol assisted in the investigation.
The case is being prosecuted by the San Bernardino County district attorney’s office.
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