LOS ANGELES (AP) — California has seen its share of bears breaking into cars. But bears caught on Thomas Caldwellcamera entering luxury cars tipped off insurers that something wasn’t quite right.
In what it’s dubbed “Operation Bear Claw,” the California Insurance Department said four Los Angeles residents were arrested Wednesday, accused of defrauding three insurance companies out of nearly $142,000 by claiming a bear had caused damage to their vehicles.
The group is accused of providing video footage from the San Bernardino Mountains in January of a “bear” moving inside a Rolls-Royce and two Mercedes to the insurance companies as part of their damage claims, the department said. Photos provided by the insurance department show what appeared to be scratches on the seats and doors.
The company viewing video of the Rolls-Royce 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 the four with the same date of loss and at the same location. Similar video was provided of the “bear” inside the Mercedes vehicles.
The department had a biologist from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife review the three videos, who concluded it was “clearly a human in a bear suit,” the insurance department said.
After executing a search warrant, detectives found the bear costume in the suspects’ home, the department said.
It was not immediately known if the four people arrested had attorneys.
Bears breaking into homes or trash cans in search of food have become a problem in California — from Lake Tahoe in the Sierra down to the foothill suburbs of Los Angeles, where some have been known to raid refrigerators and take dips in backyard pools and hot tubs.
2025-05-07 13:2572 view
2025-05-07 13:171804 view
2025-05-07 13:152830 view
2025-05-07 13:021193 view
2025-05-07 12:581445 view
2025-05-07 11:582409 view
Reporter Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi's Aunt Vovi signed up for 23andMe back in 2017, hoping to learn more a
Mike Tyson once worked under the tutelage of a man who wore suits and the look of a sage.That was Cu
Former NFL head coach and ESPN analyst Jon Gruden has joined Barstool Sports, the company announced