A bicycle built for three

Charges have been filed by the California Department of Insurance (CDI) Criminal Investigations Branch’s Fraud Division against three Santa Rosa, Calif., residents, charging them with six counts of insurance fraud and three counts of attempted grand theft.

Earl R. Small, 47, surrendered to authorities. Daniel Lassen, 20, was arrested by the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department after contact with deputies on an unrelated matter, with bail set at $15,000. An involved juvenile, whose name is being withheld, will receive a citation for his alleged involvement.

In March 2000, Small’s son left his bicycle unattended leaning against a parked utility trailer. The owner of the trailer, William Escandon, unaware the bicycle was there, hit and ran over the bicycle as he backed up his trailer. The bicycle sustained moderate damage as a result of the accident.

One month later, Small filed an insurance claim against Escandon’s CSAA homeowners insurance policy. CSAA advised Small to submit an estimate to repair the bicycle.

It was later revealed during an investigation that Small allegedly submitted three fraudulent and/or altered estimates in support of his insurance claim, submitting three replacement estimates, representing them to CSAA as repair estimates. The investigation also determined the other suspects allegedly conspired with Small to alter one of the estimates. The estimate was allegedly altered on Lassen’s home computer reflect additional bicycle parts and an inflated price.

The actual cost to repair Small’s bicycle was nearly $2,575. Small submitted estimates the amount of $5,867, $5, 818, and $4,772. It alleged that Small attempted to defraud CSAA of between $2,197 and $3,292.