Trio Who Deliberately Caused 15 Crashes On LA Freeways Sentenced

SAN FERNANDO, CA — A trio of Los Angeles who admitted to purposely causing 15 car crashes on local freeways as part of a massive insurance fraud scheme were sentenced to prison Monday.

The crashes left 21 victims in their wake, including several people who suffered sever injuries, according to prosecutors. Victor Valle-Diaz, Eduardo Retana and Ausencio Gomez were sentenced to between four and seven years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $344,000 in restitution. The three men pleaded no ontest to insurance fraud and assault charges.

The crashes took places between January 2020 and September 2020, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

Valle-Diaz, 55, was sentenced to seven years behind bars in connection with his plea to three counts of assault using force likely to produce great bodily injury and one count of insurance fraud, according to Deputy District Attorney Alex Karkanen.

Retana, 25, pleaded no contest to two counts of assault using force likely to produce great bodily injury and one count of insurance fraud. He was sentenced to six years in prison.

Gomez, 46, pleaded no contest to one count each of insurance fraud and assault using force likely to produce great bodily injury. He was sentenced to four years in state prison.

All three defendants admitted an enhancement of more than $100,000 in losses, and were collectively ordered to pay $343,883 in restitution to the insurance companies, the prosecutor said.

Restitution is still pending for the victims, according to Karkanen.

"Purposefully causing automobile collisions can cause grave injuries or even death for the innocent victims of an automobile insurance scheme," District Attorney George Gascon said in an Aug. 30 statement announcing the charges.

City News Service contributed to this report.