Three people/bears have been sentenced in a bizarre insurance fraud case.
Prosecutors say the suspects faked bear attacks on luxury vehicles, including a Rolls‑Royce and two Mercedes models, then filed insurance claims for the damage.
State investigators launched what they dubbed “Operation Bear Claw” (which sounds like what cops would call their mid-morning break time) and soon connected two more claims involving similar videos, filed on the same day and at the same location. Not suspicious at all.
A biologist with California Fish and Wildlife confirmed it was clearly a human in a bear suit, which raised even more eyebrows because brown bears haven’t been seen in California in more than a century.
A search of the suspects’ home later turned up the bear costume used in the scam – complete with fake claws.
Investigators say it’s one of the strangest cases they’ve ever seen.
