4 people from the Los Angeles area allegedly used a giant furry bear costume to claim damages to Rolls-Royces and other luxury cars

Four people from Glendale and Valley Village were arrested for allegedly wearing a fake bear costume – to commit insurance fraud.

The suspects are accused of claiming a bear damaged their vehicles in Lake Arrowhead and sent video footage to their insurance companies, when in reality it was someone wearing an elaborate furry brown suit.

As part of “Operation Bear Claw,” all four were charged with conspiracy and insurance fraud, the California Department of Insurance said Wednesday.

“The ministry’s investigation began after an insurance company suspected fraud,” the ministry said in a statement. “Upon further review of the video, the investigation revealed that the bear was actually a person in a bear costume.”

What we know about Operation Bear Claw

The four people, three from Glendale and one from Valley Village, allegedly claimed a bear broke into their 2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost in January and damaged the interior of the car.

The footage, which they provided to their insurance company, shows a parked Rolls-Royce and what looks like a bear rummaging around inside.

Watch the surveillance video

Officers began investigating and discovered additional insurance claims on a pair of Mercedes.

Again, the department said the suspects used a bear costume to make it appear the animal had broken in and was responsible for the damage, and shared the video with two other insurance companies to support their claims.

“To further ensure that the video was not, in fact, a bear, the Department had a California Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist review the three suspected bear videos and also concluded that it was clearly a human a bear suit,” officials said in a statement.

The bear costume was allegedly found at her home when officers executed a search warrant.

Insurance companies were defrauded of nearly $150,000, officials said.