{"id":107844,"date":"2024-11-14T12:03:27","date_gmt":"2024-11-14T12:03:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/bear-costume-used-in-elaborate-car-insurance-fraud-scheme\/"},"modified":"2024-11-14T12:03:27","modified_gmt":"2024-11-14T12:03:27","slug":"bear-costume-used-in-elaborate-car-insurance-fraud-scheme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/bear-costume-used-in-elaborate-car-insurance-fraud-scheme\/","title":{"rendered":"Bear costume used in elaborate car insurance fraud scheme"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/syndication.abcaudio.com\/files\/2024-11-14\/CDoI_111424_BearCostume.jpg\" alt><figcaption>Operation Bear Claw reveals suspects allegedly wore bear costume to commit insurance fraud. Image via California Department of Insurance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>(LOS ANGELES) &#8212; Four individuals were arrested Wednesday for allegedly attempting to defraud their insurance companies by claiming a bear had damaged their vehicles &#8212; when in fact it was a person in a bear costume attacking the cars.<\/p>\n<p>The suspects were all Los Angeles-area residents, according to a statement released Wednesday afternoon by the California Department of Insurance.<\/p>\n<p>The suspects varying in age, were Ararat Chirkinian, 39, of Glendale; Vahe Muradkhanyan, 32, of Glendale; Ruben Tamrazian, 26, of Glendale; and Alfiya Zuckerman, 39, of Valley Village.<\/p>\n<p>The statement said that all four were charged with conspiracy and insurance fraud.<\/p>\n<p>Suspects claimed on Jan. 28, 2024, that a bear entered their 2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost and caused interior damage, according to the Department of Insurance. They provided video footage of the incident, stating that it had occurred during their visit to Lake Arrowhead.<\/p>\n<p>Upon reviewing the footage, the Department of Insurance said that it suspected fraud. Officials said that they believed right away that the bear in question was actually a person in a bear costume.<\/p>\n<p>Initiating an investigation &#8212; named Operation Bear Claw &#8212; the department learned that two other claims had been filed to different insurance companies with similar details: the same location and the same date.<\/p>\n<p>Similar to the claim that originally drew the unit&#8217;s attention, the two other reports stated that a bear had attacked their cars: a 2015 Mercedes G63 AMG and a 2022 Mercedes E350, according to the statement.<\/p>\n<p>Each of the two other claims had submitted video footage as part of their evidence. And in both of those videos, the department said it believed that they were looking at the same bear costume.<\/p>\n<p>However, the department said that it sought an outside opinion on the case before making a final determination. Investigators reached out to a biologist from the California Department of Wildlife, who then independently reviewed the evidence for Operation Bear Claw.<\/p>\n<p>The biologist stated that &#8220;it was clearly a human in a bear suit,&#8221; according to the statement.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities were able to execute a search warrant for the people involved in the alleged insurance fraud scheme.<\/p>\n<p>Officials confirm that a bear costume was found in one of the suspects&#8217; homes.<\/p>\n<p>At the time of the arrests, officials reported that the insurance companies had already paid out some of the claims, totaling $141,839.<\/p>\n<p>The San Bernardino County District Attorney&#8217;s Office is prosecuting the case.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Copyright \u00a9 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Operation Bear Claw reveals suspects allegedly wore bear costume to commit insurance fraud. Image via California Department of Insurance (LOS ANGELES) &#8212; Four individuals were arrested Wednesday for allegedly attempting to defraud their insurance companies by claiming a bear had damaged their vehicles &#8212; when in fact it was a<span class=\"more-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/bear-costume-used-in-elaborate-car-insurance-fraud-scheme\/\">Read More &rarr;<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[156,31,2],"tags":[273,271,276,274,270,123,275,133,124,272,102,103],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Bear costume used in elaborate car insurance fraud scheme - FM News Talk 92.7 \/ 1450AM KOBE<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"TALK, DONE RIGHT\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/bear-costume-used-in-elaborate-car-insurance-fraud-scheme\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bear costume used in elaborate car insurance fraud scheme - FM News Talk 92.7 \/ 1450AM KOBE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"TALK, DONE RIGHT\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/bear-costume-used-in-elaborate-car-insurance-fraud-scheme\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FM News Talk 92.7 \/ 1450AM KOBE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NewsTalkLC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-11-14T12:03:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/syndication.abcaudio.com\/files\/2024-11-14\/CDoI_111424_BearCostume.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ABC News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newstalklc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newstalklc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ABC News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/bear-costume-used-in-elaborate-car-insurance-fraud-scheme\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/bear-costume-used-in-elaborate-car-insurance-fraud-scheme\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ABC News\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#\/schema\/person\/bfa4e6a14d1fcf4a939c3260298ef5b7\"},\"headline\":\"Bear costume used in elaborate car insurance fraud scheme\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-14T12:03:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-14T12:03:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/bear-costume-used-in-elaborate-car-insurance-fraud-scheme\/\"},\"wordCount\":425,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"92.7 FM\",\"AM 1450\",\"CONVERVATIVE TALK\",\"DONE RIGHT\",\"KOBE\",\"Las Cruces\",\"LAS CRUCES CONSERVATIVE TALK RADIO\",\"las cruces talk radio\",\"New Mexico\",\"NEWS TALK\",\"talk\",\"talk radio\"],\"articleSection\":[\"All News\",\"National News\",\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/bear-costume-used-in-elaborate-car-insurance-fraud-scheme\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/bear-costume-used-in-elaborate-car-insurance-fraud-scheme\/\",\"name\":\"Bear costume used in elaborate car insurance fraud scheme - FM News Talk 92.7 \/ 1450AM KOBE\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-14T12:03:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-14T12:03:27+00:00\",\"description\":\"TALK, DONE RIGHT\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/bear-costume-used-in-elaborate-car-insurance-fraud-scheme\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/bear-costume-used-in-elaborate-car-insurance-fraud-scheme\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/bear-costume-used-in-elaborate-car-insurance-fraud-scheme\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Bear costume used in elaborate car insurance fraud scheme\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/\",\"name\":\"FM News Talk 92.7 \/ 1450AM KOBE\",\"description\":\"Talk Done Right\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#organization\",\"name\":\"News Talk 92.7 and AM 1450 KOBE\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/12\/official-news-talk-square-2.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/12\/official-news-talk-square-2.png\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":450,\"caption\":\"News Talk 92.7 and AM 1450 KOBE\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NewsTalkLC\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/newstalklc\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCcv85Bxj9WRRnL0O3xii6IQ\/videos\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#\/schema\/person\/bfa4e6a14d1fcf4a939c3260298ef5b7\",\"name\":\"ABC News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fba9c0649b69c3d5b53142437429a66?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fba9c0649b69c3d5b53142437429a66?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"ABC News\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/author\/abcnews\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Bear costume used in elaborate car insurance fraud scheme - FM News Talk 92.7 \/ 1450AM KOBE","description":"TALK, DONE RIGHT","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/bear-costume-used-in-elaborate-car-insurance-fraud-scheme\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Bear costume used in elaborate car insurance fraud scheme - FM News Talk 92.7 \/ 1450AM KOBE","og_description":"TALK, DONE RIGHT","og_url":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/bear-costume-used-in-elaborate-car-insurance-fraud-scheme\/","og_site_name":"FM News Talk 92.7 \/ 1450AM KOBE","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NewsTalkLC","article_published_time":"2024-11-14T12:03:27+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/syndication.abcaudio.com\/files\/2024-11-14\/CDoI_111424_BearCostume.jpg"}],"author":"ABC News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@newstalklc","twitter_site":"@newstalklc","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"ABC News","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/bear-costume-used-in-elaborate-car-insurance-fraud-scheme\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/bear-costume-used-in-elaborate-car-insurance-fraud-scheme\/"},"author":{"name":"ABC News","@id":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#\/schema\/person\/bfa4e6a14d1fcf4a939c3260298ef5b7"},"headline":"Bear costume used in elaborate car insurance fraud scheme","datePublished":"2024-11-14T12:03:27+00:00","dateModified":"2024-11-14T12:03:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/bear-costume-used-in-elaborate-car-insurance-fraud-scheme\/"},"wordCount":425,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#organization"},"keywords":["92.7 FM","AM 1450","CONVERVATIVE TALK","DONE RIGHT","KOBE","Las Cruces","LAS CRUCES CONSERVATIVE TALK RADIO","las cruces talk radio","New Mexico","NEWS TALK","talk","talk radio"],"articleSection":["All News","National News","News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/bear-costume-used-in-elaborate-car-insurance-fraud-scheme\/","url":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/bear-costume-used-in-elaborate-car-insurance-fraud-scheme\/","name":"Bear costume used in elaborate car insurance fraud scheme - FM News Talk 92.7 \/ 1450AM KOBE","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-11-14T12:03:27+00:00","dateModified":"2024-11-14T12:03:27+00:00","description":"TALK, DONE RIGHT","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/bear-costume-used-in-elaborate-car-insurance-fraud-scheme\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/bear-costume-used-in-elaborate-car-insurance-fraud-scheme\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/bear-costume-used-in-elaborate-car-insurance-fraud-scheme\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Bear costume used in elaborate car insurance fraud scheme"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#website","url":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/","name":"FM News Talk 92.7 \/ 1450AM KOBE","description":"Talk Done Right","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#organization","name":"News Talk 92.7 and AM 1450 KOBE","url":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/12\/official-news-talk-square-2.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/12\/official-news-talk-square-2.png","width":1024,"height":450,"caption":"News Talk 92.7 and AM 1450 KOBE"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NewsTalkLC","https:\/\/twitter.com\/newstalklc","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCcv85Bxj9WRRnL0O3xii6IQ\/videos"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#\/schema\/person\/bfa4e6a14d1fcf4a939c3260298ef5b7","name":"ABC News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fba9c0649b69c3d5b53142437429a66?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fba9c0649b69c3d5b53142437429a66?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"ABC News"},"url":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/author\/abcnews\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107844"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107844\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}