Five people in California have been arrested after allegedly staging a hit and run for the insurance payout — and it was all caught on camera.
This week, the California Department of Insurance announced that Priscilla Carmona Arajo, 29, Gabriella Cervantes, 52, Roberto Carlos Macías, 40, Humberto Ortiz, 32, and Juan Barajas, 25, have been charged of one count of insurance fraud in connection with the 2021 Incident.
Barajas was already in police custody for an unrelated case when he filed the charge.
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According to CDI, the investigation into the incident began after police in Ontario, California, responded to the scene of a car accident.
“A woman at the scene claimed to have been the victim of a hit-and-run,” the branch said, adding that witnesses disputed that account and said she “made her way to the cars after the accident. “
Surveillance footage from a space near the crash also tells another story, as the video shows one of the defendants parking the vehicle in the middle of an intersection before leaving it there. Another vehicle, run through by one of the other defendants, can then be seen crashing into the abandoned SUV, before the driver of the second vehicle also drives away.
According to the press release, the two defendants fled.
“The investigation revealed that the five defendants arranged the twist of fate and filed an insurance claim that could have resulted in the reimbursement of more than $30,000,” the ministry said.
“In this case, no innocent driver was victimized, yet the branch continues to urge drivers who are suspicious of themselves or know they are the victim of a concerted collision to insist on obtaining a police report,” California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said in a statement. .
Lara also warned that those involved in crashes should “document the post-collision damage with photographs or video” and ask a “peace officer to positively identify everyone involved.”