Man Charged After Claiming Deer Damage in What Was Actually a Fatal Hit-and-Run

From North Carolina to Florida, insurance fraud investigators have been busy the last few weeks, leading to the arrests of firefighters, alleged auto-crash stagers, and a man who reportedly filed a claim after his car killed a pedestrian.
In Mooresville, North Carolina, Scott William Hughes was charged with insurance fraud after he allegedly told Central Insurance Co. that his daughter was driving when she hit a deer in September 2024, the North Carolina Department of Insurance said in a bulletin.
Turns out, a pedestrian was killed that same day in a hit-and-run incident. Investigators determined that Hughes’ daughter was driving the car that struck the person, DOI noted.
Hughes was released on bond and is awaiting prosecution. His daughter, a juvenile, was not named in news reports but was charged with misdemeanor hit-and-run charges and use of a mobile device while driving, WBTV reported. A 20-year-old was killed in the incident.
A few days later, William Earl Epps Jr., of Thomsasville, North Carolina, was charged with filing a false claim in a separate hit-and-run. Epps had claimed that his vehicle had been stolen but a witness reported seeing Epps leave the scene of an accident, DOI said.
Cox told investigators that he had left the Hyundai parked near a restaurant, then found it missing the next day, FOX5 TV reported. Cox’ story began to unravel when investigators did not spot the missing vehicle on any surveillance video or license-plate readers. Cox’ attorney told the TV station that the fireman is innocent of the charges.
And in Miami, Miami-Dade Sheriff’s detectives were tipped off by an insurance company about suspicious injuries from a crash. The investigation determined that six people were involved in allegedly damaging a vehicle, then staging an accident.
A medical clinic owner was also charged with submitting bills for fake injuries related to the staged crash, the sheriff’s office said in a news release this week.
“Through extensive investigative efforts, detectives uncovered that those involved had pre-signed blank therapy forms, which were later submitted to insurance carriers to fraudulently claim treatment,” the office said in a statement.
An auto body shop also was involved, officials said. Operation “Crash and Cash” remains an open investigation.