After a fender bender, one typically files a police report to document what happened. When you are not actually in your car when it is hit, however, filing a police report to support fraudulent injury claims will not help your case.

When a GEICO-insured driver backed into an unoccupied vehicle in a St. Francisville, La. retail store parking lot, there was no damage to the vehicle at the scene. No police report was filed. However, the owner of the unoccupied vehicle, Honabea Cavalier, 31, filed bodily injury claims for her and her five children a few days later and received a $500 payout from GEICO.

Two others, Earl Barrow, 26, and Sandra Cavalier, 51, filed claims with GEICO as well, alleging that they were in the vehicle when it was hit. As a precaution, Honabea Cavalier filed a police report a month after the alleged accident to back up their claims. All she was doing, though, was backing herself into a corner.

Troopers determined that the vehicle had in fact been involved in a collision, but that it was unoccupied at the time of the accident. All three suspects were arrested May 18 on insurance fraud charges, though Honabea Cavalier has also been accused of felony theft and filing false public documents. If convicted, they each face up to 5 years in prison and individual fines of $5,000.

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