Overview
- Three Los Angeles County defendants, who pleaded no contest, were sentenced Thursday to 180 days in a weekend jail program with two years of supervised probation, and two were ordered to pay more than $50,000 each in restitution.
- Investigators say the group staged videos in Lake Arrowhead showing a supposed bear inside a Rolls-Royce Ghost and two Mercedes to back claims totaling about $141,839.
- A California Fish and Wildlife biologist reviewed the footage and said it was clearly a person in a bear suit, and detectives later seized the costume and meat-claw props during a search.
- Two insurers paid on the scheme while a third refused payment, with Bristol West and Progressive covering most losses and State Farm denying a similar claim after review.
- A fourth suspect, Ararat Chirkinian, is due back in court in September 2026, and experts say quick payouts and costly seat replacements can let interior-damage scams slip through.