California has seen its share of bears breaking into cars – but bears caught on camera entering luxury cars tipped off insurers that something was not quite right.
In what has been dubbed Operation Bear Claw, the California Insurance Department said four Los Angeles residents were arrested on Wednesday, accused of defrauding three insurance companies out of nearly 142,000 dollars (£111,800) 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.
It was not immediately known if the four people arrested had lawyers.
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.
Bears breaking into homes or rubbish bins 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 garden pools and hot tubs.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel