[imagesource:CA Dept of Insurance]

Four people in Los Angeles were arrested for attempting to pull off a groundbreaking new insurance scam: claiming their cars had been ravaged by a “bear,” which, as it turns out, was just a guy in a bear costume. Bravo.

The ‘bear’ reportedly damaged a 2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost on January 8 this year as it was parked at Lake Arrowhead in the San Bernardino Mountains just northeast of LA, according to the California Department of Insurance.

In this masterclass of deception, they even sent a video of a ‘bear’ tearing up the inside of the car to the insurance company. But, with the insurance department’s stellar attention to detail, they found that “Upon further scrutiny of the video, the investigation determined the bear was actually a person in a bear costume,” per The Guardian.

To further verify that the figure in the videos was not a real bear, the insurance department said it took the footage to biologists with the California department of fish and wildlife to review. That agency also concluded that it was clearly a human wearing a bear suit, authorities said.

Oh, and the bear people didn’t stop at one epic attempt. Nope, they did it twice more—another time with a 2015 Mercedes G63 AMG and a 2022 Mercedes E350, complete with video “evidence” of a bear attack. Spoiler alert: it was, yet again, someone in a bear suit.

Truly, a crime saga for the ages.

Ruben Tamrazian, 26; Ararat Chirkinian, 39; Vahe Muradkhanyan, 32; and Alfiya Zuckerman, 39, were all arrested on charges of insurance fraud and conspiracy.

Despite the seemingly ridiculous modus operandi, this bear-themed heist reportedly racked up $141,839 (approximately R2,5 million) in bogus claims. Investigators even found the pièce de résistance—the bear costume itself—stashed at the suspects’ home, complete with brown fur, a bear-shaped head, and “paws” fitted with metal tools for those oh-so-realistic claw marks. The artistry!

According to the Fish and Wildlife Department, wild black bears—who, ironically, can look brown—roam parts of California, like the San Bernardino Mountains. Grizzlies? They’ve been extinct here since the 1920s, thanks to us humans.

These fun bear facts, combined with the suspects’ bear costume, helped investigators conclude that the “vandalism” was the work of a human in a furry suit, not an actual bear. Groundbreaking detective work. The investigation continues—probably into how anyone thought this would work.

[source:guardian]