Fake Bear Attacks on Car for Fraudulent Insurance Claims Lead to Arrests

Four Los Angeles area residents were arrested after a California Department of Insurance investigation reportedly found the suspects allegedly committed insurance fraud by claiming a bear had caused damage to their vehicles.

It turns out it was a person in a bear costume.

Ruben Tamrazian, 26, of Glendale, Ararat Chirkinian, 39, of Glendale, Vahe Muradkhanyan, 32, of Glendale, and Alfiya Zuckerman, 39, of Valley Village, have all been charged with insurance fraud and conspiracy.

The CDI investigation began after an insurance company suspected fraud. The suspects claimed on Jan. 28 in Lake Arrowhead a bear entered their 2010 Rolls Royce Ghost and caused interior damage to the vehicle. They reportedly provided video footage to their insurer showing the alleged bear in the vehicle.

However, the CDI investigation determined the bear was a person in a bear costume. Detectives reportedly found two additional insurance claims with two different carriers for the suspects with the same date of loss and at the same location. Each of the claims reportedly 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. They provided the video footage to the other insurers substantiate their claims.

The CDI had a biologist from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife review the three alleged bear videos and the expert verified it was a human in a bear suit.

After executing a search warrant, detectives found the bear costume in the suspects’ home.

The insurance companies were reportedly defrauded of $141,839. Department detectives were assisted by the Glendale Police Department and the California Highway Patrol. The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the case.