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 Auto Arson Rises in S.J.By Scott Smith STOCKTON - Can't make your auto payment? Light your car on fire, and tell the insurance company you were a victim of theft. That's what a local prosecutor says he's seeing more of these days. But instead of chasing down a phantom arsonist, oftentimes he charges the car owner with insurance fraud. A symptom of the overall economy - a troubled housing market and high gas prices - auto arsons in San Joaquin County have doubled in the past three years, according to the state Department of Insurance. In the end, these schemes raise the insurance bills of honest drivers up to $300 a year, industry insiders estimate. Perpetrators who think this is good a way to get creditors off their backs while the insurance company pays off the car loan often get into big trouble. "A lot of people dig themselves into serious problems this way," said San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney J.C. Weydert, who prosecutes insurance fraud, including torched cars. "Insurance fraud is a heavy-hitting felony, like robbery." Weydert is working about 15 active car arson cases. Most of the time, the cars end up as a charred carcass abandoned on a remote county road, while others that aren't burned up are drudged out of canals waterlogged and destroyed, he said. Once a person picks up the phone to call police and report the fraudulent theft, the consequences begin to mount. Those caught and convicted have to pay the insurance company back, plus cover the lawyers' fees and the investigators' time, which can easily add up to $30,000, Weydert said. "While they owe me the money, they're on felony probation," he said, noting that they could spend up to three years in state prison. "That's always a possibility that exists." Locally, reported auto arsons far outpaced cases statewide, according to the Department of Insurance. State figures show the numbers rose by a third in California, while in San Joaquin County, they more than doubled from 10 in 2005 to 23 in 2007. These days, people in financial straits who torch their cars are often caught in the sub prime home loan debacle, and on top of that, they have to pay $3 for a gallon of gas, said Daniel Bale, national director for special investigations at Mercury Insurance Group. Bale said he has also seen people resort to fraud when they surpass their allotted lease mileage or find they have to make expensive transmission repairs after the warranty ends. Couples splitting up property amid divorce resort to auto arson, which often leads to a tip from the scorned spouse, he said. "It's not unusual for investigators to find the owner of the vehicle with burn marks on his arms," Bale said. "The dumbest criminal is the easiest to catch." Florida attorney Sandy Burnette, who specializes in insurance fraud and trains law enforcement nationally, said too many agencies across the nation don't track down insurance fraud suspects because it doesn't pay. A person may owe $14,000 on a car, and the cost of investigating the suspected arson can equal that, he said. Chances of recouping at least the car's value are slim if the suspect hires a lawyer and fights the insurance company's claim, he said. "If they win, they lose," Burnette said of the insurance companies. "If they lose, they lose double. It's a difficult situation." Not so in Stockton, said Capt. Tim Enright, a full-time arson investigator for the Stockton Fire Department. He works closely with local prosecutors like Weydert, whose salaries are paid through a state grant to curb fraud. Enright puts his investigative training to work when he gets an inkling that a torched car is the result of insurance fraud. He declined to talk for this story about the signs he looks for to uncover fraud, fearing criminals might find ways to cover up their deeds. "Do we watch them? Yeah," he said. "Are we paying attention? Yeah. We're watching rather closely." Contact reporter Scott Smith at (209) 546-8296 or ssmith@recordnet.com. |
