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.

Meanwhile, in Atlanta, two city firefighters were arrested after a months-long investigation found that they had torched a car then one reported it as stolen. Alvin Cox and his supervisor, Capt. Adrian Strickland, were charged last week with arson.

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.