NEW YORK – A man was in a car that was caught on camera backing up into another car on the Belt Parkway. The Queens District Attorney’s Office says that the man has been charged with staging the crash.
According to the police, Maikel Martinez from Brooklyn was in the silver Honda Civic that hit Asphia Natasha’s car in the left lane on October 16. A video from Natasha’s dashboard camera shows that the Honda Civic then turned around and hit her car.
Officials say that after the crash, the people in the Honda Civic put up a plastic tarp over the rearview mirror and changed how they were sitting. Martinez said the woman got out of the driver’s seat was his wife.
Two more people who got out of the Honda Civic have not been named. They are a guy and a woman.
The criminal charge says that a red Kia Sport that was following Natasha’s car pulled up in front of the Honda Civic. Officials say the unnamed male driver of the Honda Civic got into the Kia Sport and drove away.
Martinez, who is 28 years old, was arrested when he arrived in New York on Thursday from a trip from Ecuador…. He was charged with setting up a car accident, criminal mischief, careless endangerment, insurance fraud, and conspiracy.
If found guilty, he could spend anywhere from two to seven years in jail. As of Oct. 24, the NYPD says that the Honda Civic that was involved in the accident was taken by police.
Source: Queens DA Charges Man Seen Reversing into Vehicle on Belt Parkway
