David Wagner reports on housing for LAist.
The California Department of Insurance says detectives found this bear costume at the home of the suspects accused of orchestrating fake bear attacks on their vehicles.This story is free to read because readers choose to support LAist.
If you find value in independent local reporting,Three Los Angeles County residents who tried to commit insurance fraud by staging attacks on luxury cars using a human-sized bear costume have been convicted for their barely believable scheme.Four people from Glendale and Valley Village claimed to their insurance company in 2024 that a bear had crawled inside their Rolls-Royce Ghost in Lake Arrowhead. They also submitted claims for supposed bear attacks on two Mercedes Benzes., dubbed “Operation Bear Claw,” it found that videos submitted as part of those claims clearly showed what appeared to be a human wearing a bear suit crawling through the cars, according to wildlife experts.If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less.Department of Insurance officials said a bear costume was later retrieved by detectives who searched the suspects’ home. They said insurance companies lost a total of $141,839 in the scheme.This week, three of the four people allegedly involved in the plot were convicted. Alfiya Zuckerman, Ruben Tamrazian and Vahe Muradkhanyan all pleaded no contest to felony insurance fraud charges and were each sentenced to 180 days in jail, to be served on weekends, as a condition of a two-year probation term.Ararat Chirkinian is set to return to court for a preliminary hearing in September. You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our connected community. We are free to tell the full truth, to hold power to account without fear or favor, and to follow facts wherever they lead . Our only loyalty is to our audiences and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen our community. Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive from readers like you will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.East LA sheriff's station
Bear Suit Insurance Fraud Luxury Car Scam
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