Greater Long Beach coverage is funded in part by Toast Coffee + Kitchen, Long Island’s hottest brunch spot that’s now open in Long Beach. Click here to visit the website.
The Honda Civic that played a starring role in last week’s viral dashcam video of an apparent insurance scam on the Belt Parkway has been found – parked right on a residential street in Brooklyn’s Dyker Heights neighborhood, thanks to eagle-eyed social media sleuths.
Internet detectives posted a video and photos showing the vehicle, complete with a matching New York license plate (LBB 8917) and telltale body damage from the incident, offering a potential breakthrough in the case that has captured the attention of motorists across the country.
“Hey @nypd you can find their car in Dyker Heights,” reads an Instagram post sharing the image of the vehicle. Watch video below.
The New York Police Department confirmed to Greater Long Island that they are actively investigating the matter, which appears to be part of a pattern. At least two similar incidents have been reported on the Belt Parkway in recent weeks, both involving a Honda Civic suddenly cutting off female drivers on the Belt Parkway before reversing into their vehicles.
Last Wednesday’s incident gained widespread attention after the apparent victim Ashpia Natasha of Queens shared her dashcam footage online. The video showed the dramatic sequence near Valley Stream: a Honda Civic packed with passengers abruptly swerved in front of her 2019 Acura RDX, stopped dead on the busy parkway, then seemingly deliberately reversed into her vehicle.
In a move that seemed well-rehearsed, four occupants quickly emerged from the Civic – three clutching their heads and acting dazed while a fourth person quietly slipped away toward a waiting red Kia van that had pulled up moments after the crash.
“The video clearly shows that I was not at fault,” Natasha stated in a follow-up TikTok video, noting that her insurance company has agreed to cover the $8,000 in damages to her vehicle.
An NYPD spokesperson said Monday night that “Detectives have interviewed the complainant and the investigation remains ongoing by the NYPD Criminal Enterprise Investigation Unit’s Fraudulent Collision Investigation Squad.” The NYPD had not responded to an inquiry about the latest development by the time this story was published.
Greater Long Island will continue to follow this developing story.
Top photos: TikTok (inset) and Instagram.
