Detectives and a Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist saw right through a scam involving a human in a bear costume, authorities said, and now three people in California have been sentenced for insurance fraud. The California Insurance Department said the three staged fake attacks by a person in a bear suit inside a Rolls-Royce and two Mercedes in 2024, then submitted fraudulent claims seeking nearly $142,000 in payouts from insurance companies, the AP reports. Capt. Eric Hood, who led the investigation, told the Los Angeles Times he didn't think the Insurance Department had seen such a case in his 20 years on the job: "It's definitely unique."
Two Los Angeles-area men and a woman pleaded no contest to felony insurance fraud and were sentenced to a weekend jail program, followed by probation, the department said in a news release. Two of them were ordered to pay over $50,000 in restitution. A fourth person faces a court hearing in September. They were accused of providing several videos from the San Bernardino Mountains of a bear moving inside the vehicles to the insurance companies as part of their damage claims, the department said. Photos provided by the insurance department show what appeared to be scratches on the seats and doors. The biologist reviewed the footage and concluded that was no bear. Detectives found a bear costume in a search of the suspects' home, the department said.
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