Bearly believable
Four creative fellows from the Los Angeles area had a common challenge among them. They all owned nice old cars. Not great looking or well-maintained old cars, but cars that were great when they were made. The gang thought their cars should be worth something in cash to them, but the market for worn-out cars was not looking very promising. You can imagine over a few adult beverages the boys got talking about all the bear break-ins that were happening in California and other Western states and inspiration struck like the swipe of a grizzly claw. What if their cars were attacked by bears in the middle of the night just like on TV news and they could get the insurance companies to pay them for the damages since their cars were too old to really repair or reupholster.
So the team put their minds together and bought a bear suit and found some rakes the looked like bear claws to them and the party was started. Being creatures of TV they decided that their bear attacks should be caught on surveillance video to prove their claims. You can see some of the video below. The four were arrested this week after an investigation by the California Department of Insurance revealed that they allegedly used a life-sized bear costume to stage attacks on their vehicles in an attempt to secure a six-figure payout. “Operation Bear Claw” began earlier this year after one of their claims gave an insurance company pause (or should we say, paws). The suspects claimed that a bear had entered their 2010 Rolls Royce Ghost and caused interior damage while it was parked in Lake Arrowhead, a region in the San Bernardino Mountains known for its large black bear population. The suspects provided video footage of the alleged incident to their unnamed insurance company, which the department has since posted online. The video shows a furry figure entering through the side door, climbing around the backseat and crawling out, leaving scratch marks on the leather seats and door. Detectives found two more claims involving the same suspects, from the same date and location, but involving different cars: a 2015 Mercedes G63 AMG and a 2022 Mercedes E350.
“The Department had a biologist from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife review the three alleged bear videos and they also opined it was clearly a human in a bear suit,” it said. Detectives executed a search warrant and found the bear costume — complete with a furry snouted head, paws and metal tools in the shape of claws — in the suspects’ home. The insurance department the case is currently under review for a filing determination — essentially, the decision to charge suspects with a crime. In essence should the insurance companies just refuse the claims and let the perps enjoy the fruits of their own adventure. Once that decision is made, court dates and appearances will be scheduled. The insurance companies were allegedly defrauded to the tune of $141,839.
Funnies Bearly
What’s the difference between a brown bear on a bicycle and a black bear on a bicycle?
Bearly much, they’re bicycly the same.
What do you call a bear with no teeth?
A gummy bear.
Why is there only one Yogi Bear?
Because when they tried to create a second one, they made a Boo-Boo.
What do you call a Frenchman who has been attacked by a bear?
Claude.
Birthdays on July 4th
1997 – Daniela Nieves, 1989 – Angelique Boyer, 1978 – Becki Newton, 1927 – Gina Lolabrigida
1900 – Louis Armstrong 1939 – Bill Withers, 1826 – Stephen Foster, 1883 – Rube Goldberg