Four men have been assaulted by the criminal justice system after wearing bear costumes and allegedly damaging several cars as part of a bizarre insurance fraud scheme in Southern California, authorities said.
Ruben Tamrazian, Ararat Chirkinian, Gap Muradhanyan and Alfiya Zuckerman The California Department of Insurance said they were arrested Wednesday on charges of insurance fraud and conspiracy, but investigators did not know which one was dressed as a furry animal.
The Los Angeles-area suspects are accused of damaging and tearing up three of their cars and filing false claims with insurance companies for a total of $141,839 in damages.
On January 28, 2024, they filed an insurance claim alleging a bear had entered and tore apart their 2010 Rolls-Royce and provided video evidence to investigators.
However, when investigators took a closer look at the footage, they discovered that the bear was not real, but rather a human in a furry costume.
According to the Ministry of Health, the suspects committed the same crime two more times using two different cars: a 2015 Mercedes and a 2022 Mercedes.
Investigators had biologists review three videos of the bear, and experts determined it was a human in an animal costume. They also obtained a search warrant and found a bear costume in one of the suspect’s homes.
I have to give them points for their creativity!
