MIAMI – Miami-Dade police arrested a Hialeah woman Monday who they said staged a crash last October to fraudulently collect money from insurance companies.
An investigation by the Department of Financial Services, Division of Investigative and Forensic Services revealed Lisandra Santana Herrero, 21, engaged in insurance fraud by submitting falsified documentation to an insurance company following a crash last year, her arrest report stated.
Recommended Videos
The crash, occurring on Oct. 17 at around 8:10 pm, involved two vehicles at the intersection of Northwest 72nd Avenue and 68th Street near Doral.
According to a Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles crash report, a 2018 Chevrolet SUV driven by an individual identified by police solely as “Ledesma” collided with another vehicle belonging to an individual identified as “Alvarez” from the rear.
Police said the collision resulted in Ledesma losing control and subsequently crashing head-on into a tree. There were no reported injuries or passengers in either vehicle. The crash report raised concerns about possible tampering with the driver-side airbag.
Infinity Insurance referred the case to their Special Investigation Unit and Impact General, Inc., for further investigation due to the irregularities observed, according to a report.
The crash’s reconstruction report from Impact General revealed discrepancies between the reported scenario and the observed damages. Authorities said Ledesma vehicle’s airbag control module (ACM) data contradicted the reported events, indicating intentional collisions rather than a genuine accident, according to police.
Further analysis of the Ledesma vehicle’s damage patterns and ACM data led to the conclusion that the crash was staged by Ledesma and Alvarez and that Santana Herrero was not present in either vehicle.
Additionally, police said Santana Herrero submitted fraudulent claims and statements to the insurance company and received medical treatment for alleged injuries from the “staged” crash, the report stated.
Jail records show she is facing charges that include insurance fraud, organized scheme to defraud and grand theft under $20,000.
Santana Herrero did not appear in the Miami-Dade corrections’ inmate search as of Tuesday.