Investigators from the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office arrested Matthew Root, 34, on May 20 and charged him with felony insurance fraud.
In 2005, Root was struck by another motorist, and sustained damage to his truck. The other driver was found to be at fault for the accident, and Root received compensation for the damage to his vehicle from the offending driver's insurance company.
Root's vehicular bad luck continued when his truck was stolen a few months later. However, the truck was eventually recovered, at which point, Root made an insurance claim on his truck for the same damages sustained during the earlier traffic accident.
Root's insurance company noticed that the damage he was claiming on his truck looked suspiciously similar to the damage that he had previously received an insurance payout for. The insurance company decided that this was probably not a coincidence and forwarded the file to the Auto Insurance Fraud Unit for review of possible fraud.
Investigators began looking into the allegations and determined that Root had in fact attempted to collect compensation twice for the same loss. The District Attorney's Office filed criminal charges against Root alleging insurance fraud.
Root surrendered himself to DA Investigators and was booked into custody at the Central Detention Center. His bail was set at $25,000.
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