LOS ANGELES — Three folks in California have been sentenced for insurance coverage fraud in a weird rip-off that concerned somebody wearing a bear costume damaging luxurious vehicles.
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The California Insurance coverage Division mentioned the three used an individual in a bear swimsuit to stage faux assaults inside a Rolls-Royce and two Mercedes in 2024, then submitted fraudulent claims searching for almost $142,000 in payouts from insurance coverage firms. The division known as it “Operation Bear Claw.”
Two Los Angeles-area males and a lady pleaded no contest to felony insurance coverage fraud and had been sentenced to a weekend jail program, adopted by probation, the division mentioned in a information launch Thursday. Two off them had been ordered to pay over $50,000 in restitution.
A fourth particular person faces a courtroom listening to in September.
The group is accused of offering a number of movies from the San Bernardino Mountains of a bear shifting contained in the automobiles to the insurance coverage firms as a part of their injury claims, the division mentioned. Pictures offered by the insurance coverage division present what gave the impression to be scratches on the seats and doorways.
A California Division of Fish and Wildlife biologist reviewed the footage and concluded it was “clearly a human in a bear swimsuit,” the insurance coverage division mentioned.
After executing a search warrant, detectives discovered the bear costume within the suspects’ dwelling, the division mentioned.
Bears breaking into houses or trash cans seeking meals have develop into an issue in California from Lake Tahoe within the Sierra all the way down to the foothill suburbs of Los Angeles, the place some have been recognized to raid fridges and take dips in yard swimming pools and scorching tubs.
