LITTLE ROCK – Two Pine Bluff residents on Monday pleaded guilty to their involvement in staged auto accidents in 2014. Jeremy Fisher, 36, and Teneshia White, 34, both of Pine Bluff appeared in Jefferson County Circuit Court, where Fisher pleaded guilty to one count of insurance fraud, and White entered a plea of no contest to two counts of insurance fraud.
They were sentenced to three years in prison each.
Fisher’s and White’s pleas stem from a Nov. 13, 2014, accident along U.S. 365 and Dollarway Road in White Hall involving a rented moving truck from a U-Haul store in Pine Bluff. Fisher provided the funds for the rental to a third person, who drove the truck involved in the staged accident with a car with Fisher and White. This person told investigators that the accident was staged at Fisher’s behest. A fraudulent insurance claim was filed with Repwest Insurance through the “Safe Move” product sold by U-Haul.
White’s second plea is from another staged accident on July 3, 2014, in Pine Bluff, where she and Fisher were in opposing vehicles. Investigators learned that White contacted another person to drive the vehicle she was in and planned where and how the accident would occur. That person visited with White prior to the incident and told investigators that Fisher was in White’s backyard taking a hammer to simulate damage that would take place in the staged event. A fraudulent insurance claim was filed with State Farm Insurance.
Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Allen Kerr released the following statement following the sentencing of the two.
“It was because of the diligent work of our criminal Investigators that we were able to earn jail sentences for insurance fraud. Staged car accidents put all Arkansas motorists at risk and result in higher insurance premiums for us all. Thanks to a recent change in the law, AID will be able to investigate and help prosecute more of these types of cases.”
Kerr reminded Arkansans that Act 695 of 2017 extends the statute of limitations for insurance fraud (Class D felony) involving a motor vehicle purposely used to cause and accident to five years from the previous three years.