Mount Pleasant Twp. man allegedly obtained policy 2 hours after crash

Mount Pleasant Twp. man allegedly obtained policy 2 hours after crash

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A Gettysburg man is facing felony fraud charges after an investigation by state investigators allege he fraudulently filed a $29,228.78 insurance claim for a crash that happened two hours before he obtained the insurance on the vehicle.

Chase Lee Montgomery, 35, of Mount Pleasant Township, was charged with a felony of filing a false insurance claim, along with felony theft by deception, according to court records filed by the Insurance Fraud Section of the Office of the Attorney General on Monday, Dec. 16, 2024.

The charges centered around an Aug. 19, 2023 crash in the intersection of Iron Stone Hill Road and Hess Farm Road in York Township around 11:10 a.m., where police say Montgomery was alleged to have run a stop sign, causing a three-vehicle crash, according to court records.

Montgomery was released on $10,000 unsecured bail after a preliminary arraignment on Dec. 16, 2024, court records show.

According to the criminal complaint filed by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, investigators first began the investigation after an insurance claim made by Montgomery to the United Services Automobile Association (USAA) was flagged for a misrepresentation made during the application process.

In the affidavit, investigators state that Montgomery obtained a policy online from USAA at 1:33 p.m. on Aug. 19, 2023, which went into effect the next day, Aug. 20, and covered Montgomery’s 2021 Honda Pilot.

Two days later, the affidavit states, Montgomery accessed the company’s FAQ page and looked up the section for “do I need a police report.”

About 40 minutes after searching the FAQ, Montgomery called the company, and stated he had filed a claim online, according to the complaint.

During this call, Montgomery allegedly told the representative that his vehicle was not drivable, that there had been no injuries, and that while police had been called, they never arrived on scene, according to the affidavit.

After the wreck, the affidavit states, Montgomery allegedly claimed to the representative, the vehicle was towed by his father-in-law to a towing business in Yoe, Pa.

On Aug. 29, 2023, an insurance adjuster from USAA completed a written estimate for Montgomery’s damaged 2021 Honda Pilot, which determined the vehicle was a total loss at $29,228.78, the criminal complaint states, and USAA sent a check in that amount to his vehicle’s lien holder.

Several days later, the company began a review of the case, according to the affidavit, and while reviewing the file, company investigators decided to conduct additional follow-up on the claim.

Upon contacting the towing service, the company learned that Montgomery’s vehicle had been towed to the garage on Aug. 19, though the exact time was not documented, the affidavit states.

With this information, the company conducted an Insurance Services Office claim search on the vehicle, which found that it was involved in a crash with another vehicle on Aug. 19, 2023, at 11:10 a.m., according to the criminal complaint.

The crash was reported to have been at the intersection of Iron Stone Hill Road and Hess Farm Road in York Township, the affidavit states. Investigators from the York Area Regional Police Department reported to the insurance company that Montgomery had run through a stop sign and had struck the other vehicles, injuring Montgomery’s children in the vehicle, according to the affidavit.

At the scene, Montgomery had allegedly told responding police that he had been insured by USAA, and provided an insurance policy number that was not valid, the affidavit states.

Montgomery was found at fault for the accident, according to the affidavit, and was issued traffic citations for failure to stop at a stop sign and for lacking insurance for his vehicle.

During a recorded interview with the insurance company’s investigator outlined in the affidavit, Montgomery then allegedly told the company that he was on his way home from an overnight shift in Baltimore City on Aug. 20, 2023, when another vehicle ran a red light and struck his vehicle.

In the affidavit, Montgomery identified himself to the company’s investigator as working as a police officer, though the affidavit does not specify which department he worked for.

There was no police report for the Baltimore City, Montgomery claimed to the investigator, because upon calling 911, he said he was told that police do not respond to hit-and-run crashes, the affidavit states.

Montgomery then claimed he had let his insurance lapse prior to the crash because he was in a “work training for two months,” and was not driving the vehicle, according to the affidavit.

After the investigator provided Montgomery with a copy of the report for the Aug. 19 crash in York Township, Montgomery allegedly told the investigator that the report must be a paperwork issue, and insisted to the investigator that his claims about the Baltimore City crash were truthful, the criminal complaint states.

During a second recorded interview, Montgomery told the investigators that the crash had left him with concussion syndrome and that he may not be able to continue his work as a police officer, the affidavit states.

In that recording, described in the affidavit, Montgomery allegedly admitted to the investigator that he had obtained the policy after the crash, but then “went on to change his story around several more times,” including stating that he had gotten another policy for his other vehicle, a Honda Civic, and that vehicle had been involved in another accident on the day he got that policy.

“Montgomery seemed to be using his memory as a defense as to remembering times and dates,” the affidavit states.

Several days later, the company sent a denial letter to Montgomery that stated the company found they were not liable for the damages to his vehicle, according to the affidavit.

During an investigation of the company’s report by the Insurance Fraud Section, the affidavit states, Montgomery allegedly told investigators that he could not remember if USAA had paid any money to the claim, that he had “gotten confused” leading him to report the wrong accident, and that he did not remember when the York Township accident had occurred.

A preliminary hearing for Montgomery is scheduled for Dec. 26, 2024.

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