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In what has been dubbed “Operation Bear Claw”, the California Department of Insurance said four Los Angeles residents were arrested this week, accused of defrauding three insurance companies of nearly $142,000 ($220,153) by claiming a bear had damaged their vehicles.
The group is accused of providing video footage from the San Bernardino Mountains in January showing a “bear” moving inside a Rolls-Royce and two Mercedes to insurance companies as part of their claims, the department said. Photos provided by the insurance department showed what appeared to be scratches on the seats and doors.
The company that watched the Rolls-Royce video suspected that it was not a bear inside, but someone in a bear costume.
Detectives found two additional claims and with two different insurance companies for four with the same date of loss and the same location. A similar video of “bears” in Mercedes vehicles was submitted.
For now, it is not known whether the four arrested persons had lawyers.
The department asked a California Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist to review the three videos, who concluded that it was “clearly a man in a bear suit,” the insurance department said.
After executing a search warrant, detectives found a bear costume at the suspects’ home, the department said.
Bears breaking into homes or trash cans in search of food have become a problem in California — from Lake Tahoe in the Sierra to the foothills of suburban Los Angeles, where some have been known to raid refrigerators and bathe in backyard swimming pools and hot tubs.
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