We’ve known about dash cameras catching staged auto accidents for years, but with an increasing number of homeowners purchasing security cameras, Ring doorbells, driveway cameras, and the like, we have another tool to add to our investigative arsenals.
For example, Jon Healey of LA Times highlights a staged auto accident case in California. Healey writes:
“Seemingly lost in a residential neighborhood in Ontario, the motorist pulled his car into the intersection, slowly pulled back, then moved forward again before stopping in the middle of the street.
That’s when things took a strange turn on a sunny September afternoon in 2021. The driver stepped out of the car and, once he was a safe distance away, a second car deliberately smashed into the side of the abandoned vehicle.
The scene was captured on video by a security camera mounted at a nearby home. After an investigation of the incident by the Inland Empire Automobile Insurance Fraud Task Force, five people were charged with felony insurance fraud.”
The security footage showed that both of the drivers fled the scene prior to police arrival, and Healey also noted that a woman at the scene of the accident told police that she was the victim of a hit-and-run. However, witnesses revealed that she arrived after the crash.
Ultimately, after an investigation by the Inland Empire Automobile Insurance Fraud Task Force, five individuals were accused to include Priscilla Carmona Arajo, 29, of Fontana, CA, Juan Barajas, 25, of Upland, CA, Gabriella Cervantes, 52, of Rancho Cucamonga, CA, Roberto Carlos Macias, 40, of Chino, CA, and Humberto Ortiz, 32, of Ontario, CA. All were arrested and charged, or already in custody, as of late last month.
See the security camera video here.
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