Insurers say bear that damaged luxury cars was actually a person in a costume

LOS ANGELES (AP) — California is seeing its share of bear break-ins. Now it’s seen a fake one — someone in a bear costumer rummaging through luxury cars. In what it’s dubbed “Operation Bear Claw,” the California Insurance Department says four Los Angeles residents were arrested Wednesday, accused of defrauding three insurance companies out of nearly $142,000 by claiming a bear damaged their vehicles. The group is accused of providing video footage from the San Bernardino Mountains in January of a “bear” moving inside a Rolls-Royce and two Mercedes to the insurance companies. The department says a biologist reviewed the videos and confirmed it was clearly a person in a bear suit.