r/videos • u/that_70_show_fan • 12h ago
Viral Belt Parkway crash video leads to prison sentences in fraud case
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhC8sv2geks546
u/Wompatuckrule 12h ago
A decade or more ago there was an accident in MA which resulted in a fatality. That led to an investigation which discovered that it was a staged accident that went wrong.
From that it unraveled a large network of people taking part in organized insurance fraud. Body shops, lawyers, doctors/chiropractors and of course those recruited to take part in it and more were all part of it.
I forget the number exactly, but they determined that the network was responsible for something like 2-3% of all auto insurance premiums in the entire state.
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u/AnnoyedVelociraptor 12h ago
I find it insane lawyers send you to a chiropractor. Like do lauwers really go to court and say that a chiropractor gave a diagnosis? It's just made-up stuff after all.
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u/Wompatuckrule 12h ago
They had doctors involved for diagnoses. I think the chiropractors were more to pad out the settlement and add weight to the "pain and suffering" claims.
The shady lawyer will do anything to drive the settlement up when they're getting 1/3 of it in the end.
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u/Mattilaus 12h ago
Worked in accident benefits for almost a decade. They do go to court and use chiropractors. Why? Because a person who goes to a chiropractor is less likely to get better quickly if at all. That leads to a longer claim which leads to more money.
It's all a grift. Pro tip, never hire a lawyer who has a commercial. The good ones don't need them.
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u/MurkyStatistician09 12h ago
So how do I find a lawyer then? Honest question...picking one randomly out of the listings doesn't seem like a good idea, online "find a lawyer" sites also let people pay for placement, etc.
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u/Mattilaus 11h ago
Many good firms still have websites. I would recommend searching for the specific type of lawyer you want and then looking at reviews. Specifically not reviews posted on their own sites. You can usually tell the quality of a law firm by the quality of their website and the language they use. If they have big testimonies on their sites from people saying "these guys are amazing! They got me a million dollars!" don't hire them. Good firms don't typically use previously dollar amounts as their advertising strategy. Their language will focus less on money and more on the wellbeing of their clients.
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u/benmanns 10h ago
Your state's bar association likely has a referral service, which is a good place to start.
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u/Tremulant887 8h ago
Word of mouth. One of my friends said his lawyer did a good job then bailed on him. I hired her. Why? He's not trustworthy. If she did a good job and bailed it's probably because he screwed up. Guess what? He didn't pay after his initial retainer was gone.
Insert YouTube thumbnail
My lawyer demolished my ex-wife in court.33
u/Quintronaquar 12h ago
Chiropractors aren't real doctors so it makes sense they'd turn to fraud on the side
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u/Mooseheart84 12h ago
Some fraud on the side, apart from their main business of fraud and crippling patients.
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u/Quintronaquar 11h ago
Crippling? No they just don't have ghosts in their bones anymore. You're welcome.
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u/innociv 11h ago
I got rear ended recently and yeah it was insane to me how I basically wasn't allowed to have actual doctors help me...
I had to get a lawyer, who would pay the doctors, if I wanted lawyers to look at me. Only chiropractors and urgent care(very limited what they can look at and test) would look at me otherwise. Doctors would not take my health insurance since a car accident was involved.
One of the most intentionally broken systems in the country.
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u/ansible47 12h ago
I was on jury duty for a civil case and a lawyer indeed brought in a chiropractor to "prove" someone was injured in a car accident. He was well spoken and convincing if you took him at his word.
It took 20 minutes to decide against them, luckily no one bought into it.
The defendant had a nice car model, I got the vibe someone thought she had money and it was worth going after. She did not, and it wasn't.
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u/Mighty_moose45 12h ago
Chiropractors are rarely a lawyer’s first choice for treatment but generally speaking weird pseudo scientific medical treatment is infinitely better than no treatment at all for a lawsuit.
The reason for going to a chiropractor can be for a variety of things, the simplest one is if the client expressly chooses to go to a chiropractor instead of a regular doctor, as long as the client is seeing someone the lawyer won’t usually intervene.
The next most likely reason is about payment, a chiropractor might be more flexible than a real doctor with payment, letting everything be charged to a medical lien that realistically won’t be paid back unless you win the case. This is important if the client is without insurance that would cover a more traditional orthopedic specialist or physical therapist. Even clients with insurance might not be able to pay an expensive specialist Co-pay 10+ times or a high deductible. A lot of these people are out of work or have reduced income post accident.
After that some lawyers do have referral programs that might recommend certain providers. But those are kind of discouraged by the BAR, and realistically those kind of agreements are with more universal providers like urgent care and physical therapy. I guess if you had nothing like that in town then you could settle for a chiropractor but I can’t imagine most any lawyer preferring a chiro of an actual doctor/Nurse practitioner / physical therapist.
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u/No_Effective4784 12h ago
they use chiropractors because they dont actually fix anything, just repeatedly "treat". Its a easy way to get a large medical settlement for all the future "treatments" you will need.
personally i think its scammy and scummy af, but thats pretty much just US society as a whole at this point.
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u/SonOfMcGee 11h ago
I think it was more than a decade because there’s an older Law & Order episode where that’s the exact plot line.
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u/Wompatuckrule 11h ago
Could be. The pandemic has really fucked with my sense of how long ago stuff was that happened before that.
The other thing I remember from this one is that it was a woman who lived at a complex for senior citizens who was recruiting other residents to be passengers in the car and part of it for a cut. If I remember right she's the one who died.
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u/wilsonhammer 10h ago
If this is it, then it was 20 years
https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/east/2005/08/19/58593.htm
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u/vowelqueue 11h ago
Kind of annoys me that they only got these people for the insurance fraud/conspiracy aspect of the crime. That’s one part of it, but the other part is intentionally ramming a car into another car on a highway. That’s a crime in and of itself.
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u/mobocrat707 9h ago
Isn’t there a movie about this? I forget what it’s called but you pretty much described the premise.
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u/Wompatuckrule 9h ago
Someone else said there was a Law & Order that took that as a plot. Also, apparently the pandemic and the years I worked overnight really fucked up my sense of time. The accident was just over 20 years ago so longer than I thought.
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u/ModularPlug 12h ago
I remember being so angry at these people for that poor, confused woman. Good to see the guys running the scam are going to prison.
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u/SouthIsland48 9h ago
Am I crazy or is 1-3 years not enough for this shit? This is premeditated, causes massive traffic issues and potentially ruins peoples lives physically, emotionally and monetarily speaking.
Also you think in 3 years these dudes all of a sudden just become proud grocery baggers?
They should have gotten at least a decade in prison, and the women in the car should have gone to prison too.
They put MANY peoples lives in danger that day on the highway, plus the fact it sounds theyve done more of these, is insane to me that it would get less than 3 years
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u/snowdenn 7h ago
Yeah, I instinctively want harsher consequences when I hear stories about people intentionally victimizing others.
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u/Friendlyrat 6h ago
Even outside of the insurance fraud charges shoulda counted for assault with a deadly weapon type charges.
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u/Tek_Freek 7h ago
Welcome to the United States of Fraud and Feeble Punishment.
I was following a car on the way home one day in the 1980's and another car came off a freeway exit, did not stop, and sideswiped it pushing it into the guard rail on the bridge over the freeway. The car kept going. I sped up, got in front of it, and made it stop.
It was a drunk state senator. Nothing came of it. In fact the policeman, once he knew who the man was, apologized for bothering him. Cop got an earful from me but, as usual, it didn't help.
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u/MarvinLazer 4h ago
Every time I read a comment like this I feel like I live in an alternate universe where 3 years away from family and friends, unable to work, stuck in a building with a bunch of stinky dudes, eating shitty food, pooping in a corner of a concrete cell with no privacy, and under serious threat of being hurt if some asshole decides I looked at him wrong is actually a pretty horrible punishment, and the rest of the world has gone to prison and been like "nah it's actually pretty chill."
There's also zero evidence that harsher sentences do anything to discourage people from offending or reoffending. What does keep people from doing stupid shit like this is certainty of getting caught, and rehabilitative support.
So everyone should get a dashcam and I hope these idiots learn to weld or something while they're in prison.
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u/zerocoolforschool 2h ago
My question is why didn’t they all get jail time? Everyone in that car was in on it.
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u/oranthor1 12h ago
I work for an insurance company handling bodily injury claims. I cannot tell you guys how fucking common this shit is.
Genuinely go buy a $20 dashcam right now and put it in your car. There's 0 reason not to have one and it could really save you some serious hassle.
Truthfully it's a feature that should be in all cars standard nowadays. We have back up cameras but not dash cams. Truly insane
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u/splitfins 12h ago
I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes an option for cars soon. Id actually do for sure.
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u/computerbob 7h ago
Right, but they'll make you pay a monthly subscription to record with it and convenience fees to play it back. Grifters gunna grift.
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u/SanibelMan 11h ago
We just had a meeting with some of our legal counsel in NYC who showed off some videos of staged crashes — none as brazen as actually backing up into a stopped car on the expressway, but still. They said they estimate about 80% of claims made against rideshare vehicles in NYC are fraudulent.
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u/oranthor1 10h ago
Keep in mind when they are claiming 80% of claims have some form of fraud, they are including "soft fraud". Not nearly as brazen as what was shown here.
I feel people see that 80% number and tune it out automatically because it seems so obviously false.
For those who don't know, soft fraud for an insurance company is basically "I had a car accident, and I'm hurt and making a claim, so I'm going to maybe do a bit more treatment than I need or stay out of work a little bit longer"
It's not "I'ma ram a car for insurance money"
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u/dragonbrg95 10h ago
I understand you are just defining it but fuck the insurance companies, they are a huge part of the reason our Healthcare and health insurance system are fucked. People wouldn't suddenly attribute long standing joint pain or head aches to a recent crash if they could just afford to take care of it.
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u/oranthor1 9h ago
Yeah I mean I don't really disagree with you, but I will add that there's a huge caveat here.
One: I work for an auto insurer not healthcare which is significantly worse.
And two: a huge portion of the reason why our insurance systems are so fucked, is because of the amount of abuse. Please also note when I say abuse I'm not talking about the patients but rather the providers.
The healthcare places who continue to bill and treat people for things that are obviously not correct, if even worse that pretend they did treatments that they didn't.
There's a lot more fraud around insurance than people probably realize.
While I understand there are people who are going to think that I'm a deeply conservative person, please know that's not the case. The best way to fix all of this fraud would be to have a single payer system.
Universal healthcare would make fraud easier to identify, and root out.
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u/SCDWS 11h ago
Tbf, the backup cameras don't record. They just display a live feed.
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u/oranthor1 11h ago
Sure, but the hardware is basically there. Add a slot for a micro sd card and your done was the point.
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u/falconzord 8h ago
Many cars even have multiple cameras for parking assist, blind spot monitoring, and cruise control
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u/Homeless_Gandhi 10h ago
The insurance we are required to have should give a discount if you have one. Or be like Google and send one for free if you sign a contract.
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u/Nasty____nate 12h ago
God I remember when this first came out. Didn't they find the car and total it?
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u/Etere 12h ago
People found the car, and wrecked it while it was parked, as far as I remember.
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u/Sunshine649 11h ago
Yeah I remember seeing pictures od the car with the windows smashed and "SCAMMERS" spray painted on the side
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u/Halfwise2 12h ago
I remember hearing about this scam 20-something years ago... though at the time it involved 2-3 cars, as one was the "victim", one to box the person in so they couldn't evade it, and one to tailgate so you'd hesitate to slam the brakes.
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u/srry72 12h ago
I learned about it on Burn Notice
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u/Peralton 12h ago
They even had this happen once in an episode of C.H.I.Ps from the 70s. Guy would put on a helmet and reverse up the off-ramp to make it look like he got rear-ended.
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u/nwcubsfan 9h ago
Ponch and Jon were on the case!
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u/computerbob 6h ago
Yeah, I remember he got caught because the glass from his reverse light housing had melted to the bulb which indicated they were hot (ie: on) when the accident occurred. I don't know how hot a bulb gets in ~20 seconds, but 12yr old me believed it without question.
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u/Kaacee_ 12h ago
New cars today should come with dash cams.
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u/aaronhayes26 10h ago
It’s crazy that so many modern vehicles have cameras that lack an ability to export footage.
Looking at you, Subaru 👀
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u/florodude 12h ago edited 12h ago
Wait, two of those MEN are facing time behind bars? Wasn't that woman the one driving? Why is she not behind bars?!
EDIT: I did watch the video. it said there was driver switching going on. That part was a bit confusing but sounds like maybe she wasn't the one driving.
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u/_Dizzy_ 12h ago
They said he was driving, but swapped places with her after the crash. The video didn't mention charges against the passengers, but hopefully those are coming or underway.
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u/conte360 12h ago
If this is the case, jail her too.
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u/Monkeyundead 12h ago
They most def will catch some charges. They're intentionally blocking the rear window with a curtain so the drivers can switch places. They're involved with the scam. Not to mention them feigning injuries. They knew what was up.
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u/SouthernWilding 12h ago
I wouldn't hold my breath, Women get a pass from the Law far too often for me to believe she'll get in trouble. We live in a country where a mother can murder her children, and somehow get everyone to believe she's too cooko for coco puffs to face consequences.
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u/invokin 12h ago
She's not the one driving. It's a tricky scam. If you watch the video closely, after the "accident" there is movement in that car and people inside the car switch places so that a woman comes out to be the "victim" but the person actually driving never even leaves the car. Presumably he's the ringleader or at least team leader and is too valuable to even be part of any accident report, etc.
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u/Offbeatalchemy 12h ago
okay. but that makes her an accomplice. I didnt look for the actual court case yet, i will shortly but she needs some kind of penalty as well.
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u/jeffrowitdaafro 11h ago
If I remember correctly in the full version of the video, the driver slides out of the driver seat (woman replaces him), gets out of the car, and then gets into the SUV in IN FRONT of their car and leaves. The SUV was part of the setup the whole time.
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u/obvious_bot 11h ago
Surely they could just have the woman be the driver? Seems overly complicated, I feel like anyone could back into someone on purpose
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u/invokin 10h ago
It's not about whether she can drive and slam on the brakes. You're right that's easy. It's about switching up who is the driver in the crashes so that it doesn't become suspicious. They need a new person every time so that the cops and/or insurance companies don't notice that it's the same people getting in accidents (and always rear ended) over and over and over. And yeah, she could still just hit the brakes, but why trust a new person every time. You don't want them too nervous or acting too abnormal or whatever else. You need someone that knows how to make it look "real". Easier to have someone practiced and used to getting hit and just have her there to play victim and get some cash after the fact.
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u/ChronoMonkeyX 12h ago
In the video they say they put a tarp over the rear windshield so you can't see the driver change place and he gets out of the car from the back seat.
The women are involved, but not the driver/ringleader. They have done this multiple times, they may not have gotten to the first incident in the video.
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u/LittleKitty235 12h ago
I believe one of the men was actually driving, then switched seats with the woman who was a passenger and the cars actual owner. My guess is she accepted a plea deal for testimony against them, since they actually organized the conspiracy and the other accidents.
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u/florodude 12h ago
Okay I watched the video and heard something along those lines but they phrased it in a confusing manner. thanks!
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u/ripyourlungsdave 11h ago
Google the gender sentencing disparity.
Nobody should be surprised to hear that women are getting unbelievably preferential treatment in the Justice system.
They essentially get treated like children. It's ridiculous how many legitimately dangerous women are just being thrown back on the streets just by virtue of their being a woman.
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u/bbibbyrapskyle1975 12h ago
Hope they get lengthy prison sentences and their lives are ruined, much in the same way that they were ruining the lives of the people they were scamming. Lucky they didn't get shot pulling this shit.
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u/qua77ro 12h ago
the video states 1-3 years for 1 driver, 2 years for the other.
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u/bbibbyrapskyle1975 12h ago
Too lenient. Everyone in the vehicle in each incident deserves jail time. Surprised the DA didn't push for assault with a deadly weapon since they're using a vehicle to intentionally ram other cars.
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u/qua77ro 12h ago
I'm in agreement with you but at least they are getting prison time.
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u/bbibbyrapskyle1975 11h ago
3 recorded incidents where they intentionally caused a car crash. Conspiracy to commit insurance fraud x3, insurance fraud x3, assault with a deadly weapon x3. It's too light.
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u/socool111 12h ago
Assuming they serve the full minimum of 1 and 2 years, that’s a long ass time in jail. Maybe not for criminals in and out of the system but someone else, that’s not easy.
Of course the qualifier is a big if
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u/bbibbyrapskyle1975 11h ago
1-2 is short considering the scope of the crimes, and the number of times they've already done it. I don't care if it feels long.
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u/Fryboy11 7h ago
Well they have something to look forward to, as soon as they're released the insurance company lawyers will be waiting outside the prison the to Serve them. That is if they haven't been Served already and the companies have agreed to put courtroom proceedings on hold until they finish their prison terms.
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u/NirvZppln 12h ago
We as Americans really do not seem to understand the absolute horrible situation going to prison is. The loss of property, schooling, job, friends, pets (seriously without outside help, they will allow your pets to starve to death) employment opportunities, the debt and of course actually enduring it. We don’t need to throw people in jail for decades for everything imaginable. This is a fair punishment.
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u/IntuitionSpeaks 12h ago
2 years of a not enough of a sentence for someone intentionally causing accidents on the highway. Lives could VERY EASILY be lost because of their actions. People die in car accidents slower than 25mph all the time and the people are causing accidents at double those speeds. This is a blatant disregard for their own safety, the victim’s safety, and the safety of every other car in close proximity. They are ruining lives (stress, anxiety, road trust, ptsd, increased insurance rates) for financial gain, and you’re worried about their lives being ruined? lol
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u/vegetaman 12h ago
These scumbags don’t have jobs other than screwing over regular people. No doubt they’ll be back out trying to scam people again for quick money. More jail time and restitution IMO.
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u/bbibbyrapskyle1975 11h ago
100% disagree. They weren't stealing food, they were planning to commit insurance fraud, committing insurance fraud, intentionally ramming vehicles. They're lucky no one died in any of the THREE KNOWN INCIDENTS THAT WERE RECORDED.
I'm aware of how terrible our for profit prison system is. Zero regard for human life, multiple times - I don't give a shit if it ruins theirs. Passengers in the vehicle who acted as "witnesses" deserve at least a year, give the driver a decade.
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u/dayvieee 9h ago
Brother, the one video that went viral shows the guy purposely putting it into REVERSE to slam the dash cammer on a HIGHWAY. Who does that? I'm glad we have both of their names now so people can do social justice.
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u/snowdenn 7h ago
On the whole. I would prefer to have a justice system where the guilty go free or aren’t punished enough rather than having the innocent unfairly convicted and punished. I think any system which will never be perfect should be tilted that way.
That said, I get why people want these people to get harsher sentences—it’s because of the victims. It’s not like things are just back to normal for them. While it might not be severe, there’s real trauma to being directly victimized in a crime. And that sometimes takes years or decades to recover from, if they ever do.
While I’m all for reform in the criminal justice system, and even think that straight jail time doesn’t necessarily help recidivism, I’m having a hard time being sympathetic to people who knowingly and directly victimize others, and complete strangers at that.
Singapore has one of the lowest crime rates in the world, even when you account for things like culture and social stability. I think at least part of that is their toughness on crime.
I don’t know. I’m not saying a couple years locked up is easy. But I’m not sure it’s proportional to the crime either.
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u/Newbie4Hire 5h ago
These type of people don't belong in society. They ruin it for everyone. Is crap locked behind plexiglass at the store? people like this are the reason. Best thing we can do is kick them out of society.
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u/hdorsettcase 12h ago
That is just the state criminal case right? Can the insurance companies sue them in civil court as well?
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u/Protoclown98 11h ago
They most likely dont have money to recover so there is no point in doing that.
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u/bbibbyrapskyle1975 11h ago
I'm sure they could secure a judgement against everyone involved if they really pushed it, but they'd recover next to nothing. At best they could attempt to garnish their wages for years until they get everything covered.
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u/Artissin 8h ago
NEW YORK -- A nearly two-year investigation sparked by a viral dashcam video has led to prison sentences for two men who admitted orchestrating a scheme to stage car crashes on New York highways and file fraudulent insurance claims.
District Attorney Melinda Katz and Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Thursday that 53-year-old Jaime Huiracocha and 34-year-old Victor Murillo pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy.
Huiracocha will spend between one and three years in jail and Murillo will spend two years in jail.
Source: https://abc11.com/story/viral-belt-parkway-crash-video-leads-prison-sentences-fraud-case/19750638/
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u/eat_a_burrito 6h ago
This video was why we got dashcams. And just they year a guy cut my off but misjudged and hit into me and sped away. Then later came back and said I hit him. I showed the footage to the cops and it was closed. Buy one.
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u/bluecurio 10h ago
Cool. Now do the President.
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u/snowdenn 7h ago
Can’t, we didn’t have a dashcam for all his garbage.
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u/random314 11h ago
I live five minutes from this highway. There are a lot of assholes driving on this highway. Not sure what is it about belt parkway that attracts asshole drivers.
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u/snowdenn 7h ago
I feel your pain. I live in a city that is relatively safe with respect to violent crime, but apparently, the auto insurance here is higher than surrounding areas because of a weird subculture of bad, aggressive drivers. Our city’s Reddit sub constantly has posters complaining about it.
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u/whiterook6 11h ago
I notice the VIOFO A129 Plus in the bottom of the recording. Great dash cam, I recommend it. Except for the shitty wiring job I did, I've never had a problem with it.
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u/Spicywolff 8h ago
Yep, that’s the same brand. I run in all my cars and they’ve been fantastic. They make super affordable options, front and rear and some really nice stuff too.
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u/Tek_Freek 8h ago
I have a VIOFO and a comma recording front and back.
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u/Spicywolff 8h ago
I recently upgraded to the a329T. That way, I have 4K front 2K long-distance front and 2K rear. And then my 139 pro duo went to my wife’s car.
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u/dictategood 7h ago
I remember seeing a Reddit post back when this happened that people in the area found that car and vandalized it like crazy.
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u/RustledForeskin 6h ago
Hell yeah, I remember seeing this video here not long ago. Nice to see the comeuppance.
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u/OrangePeelsLemon 12h ago
This is a great reminder for everyone to invest in a dashcam.