Three individuals in California have been sentenced for their involvement in a bizarre insurance fraud scheme known as Operation Bear Claw. The group staged fake attacks on high-end luxury vehicles, including a Rolls-Royce and two Mercedes, by using a person dressed in a bear costume to cause damage.
The suspects submitted fraudulent claims seeking nearly $142,000 in payouts, providing videos from the San Bernardino Mountains as evidence. These videos appeared to show a bear moving inside the vehicles, and photos showed scratches on the doors and seats. However, a biologist from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife reviewed the footage and concluded it was clearly a human in a costume. Detectives later recovered the bear suit during a search of the suspects' home.
Two men from the Los Angeles area and one woman pleaded no contest to felony insurance fraud. They were sentenced to a weekend jail program followed by probation, and two of the individuals were ordered to pay more than $50,000 in restitution. A fourth person involved in the scam is scheduled for a court hearing in September.