This photo provided by the California Department of Insurance shows a bear costume allegedly worn by suspects with the aim to commit insurance fraud. LOS ANGELES — California has seen its share of bears breaking into cars. But bears caught on camera entering luxury cars tipped off insurers that something wasn’t quite right.
In what’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.
After executing a search warrant, detectives found the bear costume in the suspects’ home, the department said. 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.