Bear Suit Scam Nets Arrests
- Three people arrested for insurance fraud using a man in a bear suit. - The scam caused $141,839 in losses to insurance companies. - Video evidence revealed it was 'clearly a human in a bear suit.' patch.com
Three Southern California residents were sentenced after investigators said they used a bear suit to fake damage inside luxury cars and collect insurance money. (insurance.ca.gov) The California Department of Insurance said the scheme targeted a 2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost and two Mercedes vehicles, and produced $141,839 in fraudulent claims. The department announced the sentences on April 17, 2026. (nbcnews.com) Officials identified the three defendants as Ruben Tamrazian, Ararat Chirkinian and Vahe Muradyan, all from Los Angeles County. Each pleaded no contest to felony insurance fraud, and each was sentenced to a weekend jail program and formal probation. (capradio.org) The case started with a claim that a bear climbed into a Rolls-Royce parked in Lake Arrowhead on Jan. 28, 2024, and tore up the interior. Investigators said video from the car showed an animal shape, but the movement looked human. (repairerdrivennews.com) Detectives brought in a biologist from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, who reviewed the footage and concluded the animal in the video was not a bear. The insurance department then found two more claims from the same date and place involving a 2015 Mercedes G63 AMG and a 2022 Mercedes E350. (insurancejournal.com) The state named the investigation “Operation Bear Claw” and later released a photo of the costume it said was used in the scam. Investigators said the claw marks inside the cars matched tools and staged damage, not wildlife behavior. (cbsnews.com) Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said insurance fraud raises costs for policyholders, and the department used video analysis and field expertise to challenge the claim. California requires insurers to report suspected fraud to the state, which then investigates with local prosecutors. (insurance.ca.gov) A fourth defendant, suspected of wearing the costume during the staged break-ins, was charged in 2024 and had not been sentenced with the other three as of April 2026. The criminal case turned on a simple point investigators repeated from the start: the “bear” in the video was a person in a suit. (globalnews.ca)
