'Operation Bear Claw' nabs 4 accused of faking bear vandalism on Rolls Royce

Nov. 14 (UPI) -- Four Southern Californians arrested Wednesday are facing fraud charges for allegedly using a person in a bear costume to fake vandalism damage to a Rolls Royce Ghost. It cost insurance companies $141,839, according to the California Department of Insurance.

Arrested in the "Operation Bear Claw" case were Ruben Tamrazian, 26, of Glendale, Ararat Chirkinian, 39, of Glendale, Vahe Muradkhanyan, 32, of Glendale, and Alfiya Zuckerman, 39, of Valley Village.

A bear suit was found during a search of the suspects' home. They were arrested by Glendale police and the California Highway Patrol.

They all are charged with insurance fraud and conspiracy, according to the California Department of Insurance.

"The suspects claimed on January 28, 2024, in Lake Arrowhead a bear entered their 2010 Rolls Royce Ghost and caused interior damage to the vehicle," the department said in a statement. "They provided video footage to their insurance company, which showed the alleged bear in the vehicle. Upon further scrutiny of the video, the investigation determined the bear was actually a person in a bear costume."

Two other claims with different insurance companies were found by detectives. They had the same loss date at the same location.

"Each of those claims involved two different vehicles, a 2015 Mercedes G63 AMG and a 2022 Mercedes E350, and the suspects again appeared to use a bear costume to make it appear that a bear also entered and damaged those vehicles," the Department of Insurance statement said

A biologist with California's Department of Fish and Wildlife said it was clearly a human in a bear suit seen damaging a car in a video provided to the insurance company by the defendants.