Two more men were charged last week for masterminding fake car accidents on busy New York highways as part of a scheme to pocket insurance payouts.
Jaime Huiracocha is accused of leading the staged wrecks last fall. According to the Queens District Attorney’s Office, the 53-year-old Brooklyn man was allegedly involved in at least three bogus crashes, including one in October that went viral on TikTok.
According to the police investigation, Huiracocha wrangled a crew of participants to drive and ride inside various cars to help stage the incident. One car would be immediately engaged in the incident, while the second would follow closely behind and pick up the driver of the first car, Huiracocha’s accused accomplice, before riding away.
A small crew would meet Huriacocha and the car’s driver, Victor Murillo, just before the staged crash. They would arrive at the prearranged meeting spot and board one of many cars, according to prosecutors.
Murillo would always drive the car, but the team would have black plastic bags to seal the windows after the crash, allowing them enough time to exchange seats and convince their victim that someone apart from Murillo was driving.
The second car arrived shortly after, picking up Murillo, 34, also from Brooklyn, and driving him away from the site.
Investigators uncover scheme
A viral video circulating on TikTok provided law enforcement with information about the insurance payout operation.
On October 16, Asphia Natasha was driving north on the Belt Parkway when a silver Honda Civic cut in front of her and came to a stop.
Natasha braked to prevent a collision, but the Honda driver backed into her car, causing damage to both vehicles, according to prosecutors.
The occupants of the Honda lifted up what seemed to be a plastic tarp, partially blocking Natasha’s vision inside the vehicle, and the passengers shifted seats, according to Katz.
The video captured the crash on Natasha’s dashboard camera, garnering millions of views on TikTok.
The next month, a 28-year-old male was arrested and charged with insurance fraud, collision staging, and reckless endangerment. Investigators, however, believed he was in the backseat at the time of the collision.
“After a long-term investigation with our partners at the NYPD and New York State Department of Financial Services, we identified two additional defendants who are now charged for this wide-ranging scheme,” Katz explained in a statement.
Two weeks earlier, on October 3, Huiracocha and Murillo allegedly collided on the Nassau Expressway in Lindenwood. According to prosecutors, Murillo was driving a Nissan Xterra when he cut in front of the driver of a tractor trailer. The two vehicles collided.
Prosecutors said Murillo snuck out of a different entrance and into another automobile ready to whisk him away from the scene. According to Katz’s office, the team ultimately filed a claim with Allstate for more than $3,000 in total.
Two months earlier, on August 24, the Huiracocha and Murillo crew attacked again, this time on the Belt Parkway around 8 a.m. Murillo was allegedly driving a silver Honda Civic when he cut off the road, resulting in a mishap at the Erskine Street exit.
According to authorities, the victim had a dashcam that captured evidence of the incident, including photographs of Murillo departing the Honda and sliding away in a second automobile. The staged actors for this crash filed a $79,000 claim.
Huiracocha and Murillo appeared in court last Tuesday on allegations of automobile collision staging, reckless endangerment, conspiracy, and insurance fraud. They’re due back next month.
If convicted of the top charge, each could face up to 15 years in jail. The attorney contact information for each man was not immediately available.
