Four people arrested and charged with insurance fraud in Southern California who claimed their car was vandalized by a bear were actually people wearing bear costumes, authorities said Wednesday.
The so-called bear broke into and damaged a 2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost parked at Lake Arrowhead in the San Bernardino Mountains northeast of Los Angeles on January 8, according to the California Department of Insurance. That’s what it means.
A video purportedly showing the animal getting into the car was submitted to the insurance company.
“Upon further review of the video, investigation revealed that the bear was actually a human wearing a bear costume,” the health department said in a statement. The group also filed claims for damages for two other cars, a 2015 Mercedes G63 AMG and a car. It says the 2022 Mercedes E350, again with a video, and the person wearing the bear costume appear again.
Ruben Tamradian, 26 years old. Ararat Chirkinian, 39 years old. Vahe Muradkanyan, 32, of Glendale, and Alfiya Zuckerman, 39, of Valley Village, were arrested on suspicion of insurance fraud and conspiracy, the department said.
A spokesperson for the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office said charges have been filed against the four people arrested and the case is being reviewed for charging decisions.
It was unclear whether any of the four had attorneys who could speak on their behalf Wednesday night. I couldn’t find their phone number.
The fraud cost the insurance company $141,839, according to the department.
Authorities said a bear costume with brown fur, a bear-shaped head, paws and metal props imitating claw marks was found at the suspect’s home.
Video of the alleged attack showed what appeared to be small grooves on the seats and interior that would have been left as claw marks.
Investigators also showed the video to a biologist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, who “indicated that it was clearly a human in a bear costume,” the Department of Health said.
There are bears in the San Bernardino Mountains, a forested area about 90 miles northeast of Lake Arrowhead and Los Angeles, but they don’t wear costumes.
According to the Fish and Wildlife Service, black bears are the only wild bears in the San Bernardino Mountains and other parts of the state. Despite their name, those bears can be brown.
The state was once home to grizzly bears, but by the 1920s they had been hunted to extinction.
Bill Feather contributed.
