Two Brooklyn men who staged a car crash on the Belt Parkway in the Rosedale neighborhood of the borough of Queens in October 2024, have been sentenced to prison, with one receiving a two-year sentence and the other between one and three years, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz and New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced at the Queens District Attorney’s Office on Aug. 27.
The two men, Jaime Huiracocha, 53, and Victor Murillo, 34, were caught when their victim, Ashpia Natasha, posted her dashcam video of the incident on TikTok, which went viral. The Queens District Attorney’s Office’s investigation found the two men had staged three car crashes for insurance fraud.
“If you stage crashes, if you defraud New Yorkers, if you endanger lives, we will find you, we will prosecute you. We will make you pay the price,” Hochul said at a press conference.
Huiracocha was sentenced Aug. 24 to a minimum of one year and a maximum of three years after he pleaded guilty in May to insurance fraud and conspiracy. Murillo pleaded guilty to staging a motor vehicle accident, insurance fraud, and conspiracy and was sentenced Aug. 3 to two years in prison. Huiracocha recruited car passengers for the scam by promising cash payouts. Murillo drove the cars that caused the crashes.
Katz said she wished the sentences were higher and hoped to see sentences for similar crimes increase under a new law passed this spring that enables prosecutors to charge anyone who “hires, requests, encourages, or orchestrates” staged accidents as well as the actual drivers.
On May 27, Hochul signed a packet of laws designed to reduce insurance premiums by cutting down on fraud and modifying liability under state law. The Insurance Information Institute estimates the changes could cut average car insurance premiums by $300. Hochul said that in 2025, the state received more than 43,000 reports of suspicious auto insurance claims.
Related Stories
The new laws aim to reduce staged accidents by limiting damage awards for drivers who break the law and blocking those at fault from suing their victims for compensation. The laws also clarify the definition of “serious injury” to ensure awards go only to those able to provide objective proof of such injuries.
Katz said that in the Oct. 16 incident, Murillo and his passengers made claims against Natasha’s insurance for damages and for injuries. According to the district attorney’s office, Huiracocha instructed passengers to visit specific medical clinics for evaluation after the crashes.
The TikTok video clearly shows a silver Honda pull in front of Natasha, stop, turn on its hazard lights, and then back up into Natasha’s vehicle. Katz said her children saw the video and shared it with her, and she launched an investigation. Her office determined that the Oct. 16, 2024 collision was the third intentional crash caused by Murillo and Huiracocha.
Katz described the scheme, which involved Huiracocha orchestrating “crash for cash” collisions using other people’s cars, and roping in passengers to exaggerate injuries from the crash. According to the district attorney’s office, passengers were paid off with hundreds of dollars for their participation.
Murillo would drive the borrowed car and would initiate a collision by pulling in front of another driver and stopping suddenly. In Natasha’s case, she managed to brake in time when Murillo stopped in front of her. Murillo, driving the silver Honda, then reversed into her.
