How far will people go to stage an accident for financial gain? An Idaho Falls man took it pretty far when he tried to stage a motorcycle accident in return for the insurance payout. Not only did he smash up his bike, he even had his girlfriend drag him behind his pickup truck in some sort of half-baked attempt at tattering his clothing. That should get him a few points for style, but not so much for intelligence.
According to Idaho Falls’ News 8 station, Jason Preston, 31, will serve 20 days in jail for insurance fraud and damaging insured property. Altogether, when he was sentenced on May 1st, he received one to four years in prison –which was suspended, 20 days in the county jail, 100 hours of community service and four years of probation. The judge on the case, Sixth District Judge Joel Tingey, also ordered Preston to pay a $750 fine plus court costs.
Preston pleaded guilty to both charges last March.
Back in July, Preston told the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office that his motorcycle was damaged when he tried to avoid running into an animal. On the other hand however, the Idaho Attorney General’s Office noted how far Preston actually went for this scam. They stated:
Preston had placed the motorcycle in the back of his pickup truck and had gone to a rural road outside Idaho Falls. While his girlfriend drove the truck at 40 to 50 mph, Preston pushed the motorcycle onto the road. He then made his girlfriend drag him down the road behind the truck to make his clothing look like it had been damaged in a motorcycle accident.
His girlfriend then left the scene, after which Preston called 911 to report the accident. He then went on to make false statements about the event to his insurance company.
The case was investigated by the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office and the Idaho Department of Insurance. At the request of the Bonneville County Prosecuting Attorney, the Attorney General’s Insurance Crimes Unit acted as special prosecutor.
The girlfriend, who cooperated as the state’s witness, was not prosecuted. And we would assume that she will soon be the ex-girlfriend, unless she is going to hang in there and for another round of dragging him behind the truck. You never can tell.
This post is authored by Trace America. (The Fraud Report)
