man charged for allegedly staging crash in obvious insurance coverage fraud scheme caught on sprint cam – NBC New York

A Brooklyn man is dealing with a litany of costs for allegedly staging a automotive crash as a part of an insurance coverage fraud scheme by reducing off one other driver on the Belt Parkway, forcing the driving force to cease after which reversing into the sufferer’s automotive — an incident that was caught on the sufferer’s sprint cam and shortly grew to become a viral video, in line with the native district legal professional’s workplace.

Maikel Martinez, 28 and of Dyker Heights, was arraigned Wednesday evening on costs of staging a motorized vehicle accident within the second diploma, prison mischief within the third diploma, reckless endangerment within the first diploma, conspiracy within the fifth diploma and insurance coverage fraud within the fifth diploma. He’s scheduled to seem in court docket once more on Jan. 7.

If convicted, he faces as much as 2 1/3 years to seven years in jail. Legal professional info for Martinez was not instantly recognized.

In accordance with the costs, shortly after 11 a.m. on Oct. 16, 11:11 a.m., Asphia Natasha was driving north within the left lane of the Belt Parkway in Rosedale close to the Nassau County border, when a silver Honda Civic minimize in entrance of her and coming right into a cease, forcing Natasha to brake. The Honda then shortly backed into Natasha’s automobile, damaging each automobiles. Subsequently, the occupants of the Honda allegedly held up an obvious tarp within the rear window space of the automotive that partially obstructed the sufferer’s view contained in the Honda, at which level the occupants apparently switched their seats.

After the crash, 4 folks exited the automotive together with a lady who received out of the driving force’s aspect and a person who recognized himself as Martinez and mentioned the purported driver was his spouse. One other girl and man who exited the automobile are nonetheless unidentified.

Natasha’s automobile had dashboard cameras and captured the purported plot unfold.

This footage additionally confirmed a pink Kia Sport following Natasha’s automotive, in line with the district legal professional’s workplace. After the crash, the Kia stopped in entrance of the Honda and one of many folks contained in the Honda received contained in the Kia, leaving the scene.

“The defendant and others allegedly staged a crash on a busy freeway and rammed an unsuspecting driver with their automobile after they forcibly stopped her within the left lane of the Belt Parkway,” katz mentioned in an announcement. “Numerous lives have been jeopardized attributable to this extremely reckless conduct. This investigation may be very a lot ongoing, and I encourage anybody who suspects that they might have been a sufferer in a staged automotive crash to name the NYPD Workplace of Fraudulent Collision Investigation Squad at 718-822-5403.”

The investigation is ongoing.