Authorities Arrest Four Californians for Faking Bear Attacks

Authorities arrested group of California residents who used a bear costume to stage vehicle attacks in an effort to receive payouts from their car insurance providers.

CBS News reports that during an investigation, dubbed “Operation Bear Claw,” investigators discovered that three of the four individuals submitted similar insurance claims after the “bear” destroyed their cars’ interior in the San Bernardino County community of Lake Arrowhead.

After one of the insurance companies suspected fraud, investigators began looking into the incident. The investigation revealed that multiple claims were filed for the same location on January 28, 2024. The claimants provided video footage of a supposed bear damaging the interior of their vehicles to their insurance companies.

Those videos, which were all filmed in the exact same location outside of a residence, were created 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," a California Department of Insurance (CDI) release said.

Investigators sought the help of a biologist from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to confirm that the attacks were phony and "clearly a human in a bear suit."

Photos taken by insurance investigators showed scratch marks on the cars’ seats and door panels.

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

Glendale police and the California Highway Patrol arrested and charged the four suspects with insurance fraud and conspiracy.