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Now, we have to find the red Kia.
That’s the challenge internet detectives around New York have given one another after the NYPD’s apparent impounding of the Honda Civic that was video recorded last week cutting off a lone female driver — then slamming backyards into the front bumper of her Acura RDX.
A red Kia van is also seen in the dashcam video, pulling up in front of the Oct. 16 wreck on the parkway near Valley Stream. One of the individuals in the Honda — a man, possibly the driver — exits the Honda, walks toward the Kia and is driven away in the van.
While the man does not appear again in the Acura’s dashcam video, three other individuals exit the Honda holding their heads and appering to be bewildered, while using their smartphones to take photos of both cars and seemingly make phone calls and send texts.
‘Impounded’
@rflores.1995 Replying to @Moltres, El Guajolote Macias NYPD tow it and seize it, I believe they abandoned it cuz it wasnt registered or with insurance lol 😹😹😹 #scam #dashcam #insurancescam #hondacivic #redkia #nyc #viral #fyp #parati #fypシ #nypdpolice ♬ original sound – SpongeBob background music
At least two separate videos posted late Wednesday on social media show the exact Honda Civic involved in the incident — identified by its New York license plate (LBB 8917) and distinctive damage seen in the dashcam video — parked at the NYPD’s 68th Precinct in Brooklyn. The car had been parked on a residential street in Dyker Heights for days; internet detectives had tracked the car down to the Brooklyn neighborhood.
Meanwhile vandals had busted the driver’s side window and left makeshift cardboard signs on the car that read “Fraud” and “Rats.” Those signs are no longer attached to the vehicle.
Greater Long Island has inquired with the NYPD to confirm when and where the vehicle was impounded. Department officials had not responded by the publication time of this article, but the story with be updated with a response as soon as it is available.
The NYPD has said prior that its Criminal Enterprise Investigation Unit’s Fraudulent Collision Investigation Squad interviewed the alleged victim, Ashphia Natasha, and is continuing its investigation into the incident. At least one other incident involving a Honda Civic on the Belt Parkway in recent months — apparently specifically targeting female drivers — has been posted to TikTok.
‘Swoop-and-Squat’
@ashpianatasha4 Insurance fraud attempt in Queens, NY 10-16-2024 PART 1 I was driving in the left lane of the Belt Parkway going East bound towards the Southern State Parkway. The silver Honda (LBB 8917) was in the middle lane, and they cut me off and slammed on the brakes coming to a full stop hoping I would hit them. I did not hit their car and because of that they reversed into my car for collision and acted as if they were injured while coming out of their vehicle. I believe the intention was to say I hit their car for insurance fraud purposes. They had a tarp covering the rear windshield which fell off once they hit my car. You can see the driver is a male wearing a hat and you can see him switching to the passenger seat as well as the movement of the car before anyone gets out. The first three passengers exit the car pretending to be hurt, while the fourth passenger who was driving slips out through the passenger seat and gets into a second vehicle. That second vehicle was a red KIA SUV (KJH 3340) which was following me from behind and keeping distance so they wouldn't slam into me. The red KIA drove around and picked up the driver to get away. The remaining three people’s demeanor changed once one of them noticed the dashcam. They only came out of the car with their phones ready to record the damage to both cars. They were quick to ask for my insurance and quickly left after the exchange. I called the police at the time of the incident and reported it as an accident, and the police told me they no longer go to an accident if no one is injured and they are willing to exchange information. I did not realize at the time that the driver switched and left in another car or that it was a set-up as I was driving by myself, and everything happened so fast. #queensny #car #caraccident #exposed #newyork #brooklynny @nbcnews @abcnews @nypd @geico @allstate @pix11ny ♬ original sound – Ashpia Natasha
Natasha, whose original video of the incident has tallied 68.1 million views on social media, appears to be the victim of a fairly common scheme that the National Insurance Fraud Bureau calls the “Swoop-and-Squat.” This involves operators of at least two cars targeting another motorist.
Here’s how it works:
The driver of the squat vehicle pulls in front of the victim’s car, and then stops suddenly, leaving the victim no time to avoid a rear-end collision (though in Natasha’s case, she managed initially to avoid a crash. The collision came when the driver of the Honda rammed backward into Natasha’s Acura).
The driver of the swoop car, in Natasha’s case, followed her with his hazard lights blinking, and then swooped in front of the squat car within seconds after the collision.
Natasha has said that her insurance company has agreed to cover the $8,000 in damages to her vehicle, though the repairs have not been completed yet.
Arrests wanted
@pocket_ninja_007 HONDA CIVIC FROM INSURANCE FRAUD SCAM HAS BEEN IMPOUNDED BY NYPD!!! 🖤💙🖤 #hondacivic #INSURANCE #scam #fyp #LBB8917 #nyc #trending #viralvideo #update #scammers #nypd #Brooklyn #68th #honda #kia #insurancefraud #intentionalcrash #dashcam #busted #redkia #fraud #soon #civic #silvercivic ♬ Ridin Dirty Remix – Papoose & Chamillionaire & Jae Millz
Commenters on the social media posts showing the Honda apparently impounded by the police are pushing for the scammers to be found and arrested.
“So they lock the car up instead of the people🥺” asked kissy noontime on the TikTok post above from pocket_ninja.
