The famously patient New York City public has been clamoring for an update on the brazen attempted insurance fraud that went viral in October. Now, the police have actually charged one of the participants, but the actual driver and two other suspects remain at large.
Crash victim Asphia Natasha caught the entire incident on her dash cam and posted the footage on TikTok. The crash happened relatively quickly and would be deemed intentional by anyone who has ever driven a car; a Honda Civic cut off Natasha and immediately slammed on the brakes. Natasha slowed to avoid the planned collision so the Civic’s driver reversed into her car. There was also a second vehicle involved in the staged wreck, a red Kia Sportage.
The passenger was arrested in New York when he arrived back on a flight from Ecuador, WNBC reports. Instead of getting picked up by his friend in their Civic, he got to take a ride in a police cruiser. He’s now facing charges of staging a motor vehicle accident, criminal mischief, reckless endangerment and insurance fraud. Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz told WNBC.
The defendant and others allegedly staged a crash on a busy highway and rammed an unsuspecting driver with their vehicle after they forcibly stopped her in the left lane of the Belt Parkway. Countless lives were jeopardized due to this incredibly reckless conduct.
Natasha posted an update on TikTok thanking everyone for their support. After her post, people began spotting the Civic from the crash around the city. An unidentified vigilante even vandalized the car. There’s even an online hunt to find the red Kia Sportage from the crash.
It’s scenarios like these that make a dash cam such a wise investment, if not for your own safety in such crooked crash attempts, than to capture other absolutely bonkers events on the road, like another car plunging 200 feet off a cliff.