A New York City man has been charged with staging a car crash for insurance fraud after shocking dashcam footage emerged last month.
Authorities announced Friday that Maikel Martinez, 28, of Brooklyn, had been charged Wednesday in connection with the incident.
He faces a litany of charges, including criminal mischief, staging a motor vehicle accident, reckless endangerment, conspiracy and insurance fraud.
Prosecutors say Martinez was in a car whose driver cut off another car on the Belt Parkway, in Queens, and then deliberately backed into the vehicle.
Asphia Natasha was driving north when the silver Honda Civic cut in front of her. She could be heard in her dashboard clip, which she shared on TikTok, saying, “Oh my god, what is he doing.”
‘They only got out of the car with their phones ready to record the damage to both cars. They quickly asked about my insurance and left soon after the exchange,” Ashipa Natasha said
Natasha was on the phone with her husband and said to him, “I just had an accident; I don’t know what’s happening. This guy just backed into me, what the hell is going on’
Natasha was on the phone with her husband and said to him, “I just had an accident; I don’t know what’s happening. This man just ran into me. What the hell is going on?’
She wrote on her post: ‘The silver Honda was in the center lane and they cut me off and hit the brakes until they came to a complete stop hoping I would hit them.
“I didn’t hit their car and that’s why they backed into my car.”
Natasha claimed the two backseat passengers used a ‘tarp’ to cover the rear window so the male driver could switch seats with the female passenger.
Four passengers then exited the car, holding their heads and pretending to be injured as they inspected the damage to their car’s bumper.
Natasha said: ‘I think the intention was to say I hit their car because of insurance fraud.’
One female passenger, who exited the car from the driver’s side, began recording both vehicles.
The other female passenger also began documenting the crash and taking a photo of Natasha’s license plate.
A red Kia had stopped in front of the silver car and picked up the suspected male driver before driving away.
The video shows the vehicle – driven by the alleged scammers – making its way along the Belt Parkway in Queens, New York, before being seen here
Natasha said she remembered the remaining passenger’s behavior changed when they saw her dashcam.
Natasha added in a follow-up video: “They were quick to exchange my driver’s license and my insurance, registration and everything, so I didn’t think anything of it.”
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said, “The defendant and others allegedly staged a crash on a busy highway and rammed an unsuspecting driver with their vehicle after forcibly stopping her in the left lane of the Belt Parkway.
“Countless lives have been endangered by this incredibly reckless behavior.”
Martinez has pleaded not guilty and is due back in court in January. If convicted, he faces a prison sentence of 2 1/3 years to seven years.