Brooklyn men sentenced for staging NYC highway crashes

Two Brooklyn men, Jaime Huiracocha, 53, and Victor Murillo, 34, have pleaded guilty to insurance fraud after orchestrating a scheme to stage car crashes on New York highways. The investigation was triggered by viral dashcam footage posted to social media showing a silver Honda Civic backing into a vehicle on the Belt Parkway.

Prosecutors stated that Murillo acted as the driver, performing sudden braking maneuvers to cause rear-end collisions, while Huiracocha coordinated the timing from a separate vehicle. The group staged at least three crashes between August and October 2024, including incidents on the Nassau Expressway, to collect personal injury payouts. Following the collisions, participants would feign injuries and use accomplices to hide the driver or cover windows to evade immediate detection.

Melinda Katz, the Queens District Attorney, announced that Huiracocha will serve at least one year and Murillo will serve at least two years in prison. Governor Kathy Hochul noted that the state is increasing efforts to combat auto insurance fraud through a new cross-agency task force and a rebuilt insurance fraud bureau.