According to Alejandro A. Alvarez of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Thomas Ershaw, now-ex Philadelphia Police Officer, was arrested and charged late last month in connection to an incident in which he allegedly ran his Dodge Ram into the front of a Philadelphia home and submitted a fraudulent insurance claim to collect on damages.
Alvarez writes, “The incident took place on Feb. 2, 2021, when witnesses said they saw a blue pickup truck strike the front of a home on the 6100 block of Ridge Avenue in Roxborough. A 911 caller told authorities they also saw the truck strike a SEPTA bus. The person whose property was struck obtained surveillance footage that showed a blue Dodge Ram traveling in reverse alongside the bus, then suddenly jumping the curb and going into the front doorway of a home. The driver then drove back onto Ridge Avenue, around the front of the bus, and fled, police said.”
Unfortunately for Ershaw, Philadelphia Police Department’s Internal Affairs Bureau investigated the incident and determined the owner of the truck as Thomas Ershaw, and also obtained information indicating that he filed a claim with his auto insurance company stating that an “unknown vehicle” hit his Dodge Ram on February 4, 2021 and fled the scene.
Ershaw was employed by the Philadelphia Police Department for 12 years before resigning in November 2021, and has been officially charged with insurance fraud, theft by deception, and causing an accident involving damage to an attended property. He is presumed innocent until proven guilty.