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4 arrested in California for allegedly staging bear attacks to receive insurance payouts

By
Dean Fioresi
Web Producer, CBS Los Angeles
Dean Fioresi is a web producer for CBS Los Angeles. He covers breaking news throughout Southern California. When he's not writing about local events, he enjoys focusing on sports and entertainment.
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Dean Fioresi,
Matthew Rodriguez
Digital Producer, CBS Los Angeles
Matthew Rodriguez is a digital producer for CBS Los Angeles. He's previously reported for local outlets like the Argonaut and Pasadena Weekly. Matt typically covers breaking news and crime.
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Matthew Rodriguez

/ CBS LA

A group of Los Angeles County residents were arrested after they allegedly staged bear attacks using a costume in order to receive payouts from their car insurance providers, investigators say. 

The investigation, which was dubbed "Operation Bear Claw," found that three of the four individuals submitted similar insurance claims after a so-called bear wrecked the interior of their cars in the San Bernardino County mountain community Lake Arrowhead, according to a release from the California Department of Insurance. 

screenshot-2024-11-13-at-3-57-44-pm.png
The phony bear suit used in the insurance scam.  California Department of Insurance

Investigators began to look into the incident after one of the insurance companies suspected fraud, revealing that multiple claims were filed for the same location on Jan. 28, 2024. The claimants allegedly provided video footage to their insurance companies of a supposed bear damaging the interior of their vehicles.

Those videos, all in the exact same location outside of a residence in the area, meant to show the bear entering the cars and crawling around. But "upon further scrutiny of the video, the investigation determined the bear was actually a person in a bear costume," the CDI release said. 

In order to make sure that their beliefs were not unfounded, investigators sought the help a biologist from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, who reviewed all three videos of the phony attacks and also opined that it was "clearly a human in a bear suit."

screenshot-2024-11-13-at-4-17-54-pm.png
Some of the "damage" caused by the phony bear.  California Department of Insurance

Photos provided by insurance investigators showed surface-level scratch marks to the seats and door panels of the cars. 

The claims, which resulted in the insurance companies being defrauded of a whopping $141,839, were made for a 2010 Rolls Royce Ghost, a 2015 Mercedes G63 AMG and a 2022 Mercedes E350, investigators noted. 

The four suspects, identified as Glendale residents Ruben Tamrazian, 26, Ararat Chirkinian, 39, Vahe Muradkhanyan, 32 and Valley Village woman Alfiya Zuckerman, 39, were all arrested with the help of Glendale police and the California Highway Patrol, the release said. 

Each was charged with insurance fraud and conspiracy. 

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