D.A.: Two more charged in faking SEPTA bus injuries

By Sam Wood, PHILLY.COM
Posted: January 18, 2013

Notice to fraudsters: If you don't know it by now, SEPTA has installed video cameras on its buses. Something to consider before you file an injury claim for a bus accident that never happened.

For the third time in as many months, the District Attorney's office announced that more Philadelphians have been charged with filing false personal injury claims against the mass transit agency.

Zahirah Gray, 21, and Lannette White, 48, both of Point Breeze, surrendered today at the D.A.'s office and were charged with insurance fraud and attempted theft by deception.

Gray and White claimed they were seriously injured on March 30, 2011 when a SEPTA bus was hit by a van while stopped at 20th and Market Streets. The impact was so light that the SEPTA driver wasn't sure the bus had been struck. She checked and found a scrape on the side of the bus, but didn't believe it warranted taking the bus out of service, said Tasha Jamerson, spokeswoman for D.A. Seth Williams. The driver completed her route.

Several weeks later, SEPTA received an injury claim from Gray for $11,298 and another from White for $12,770.

The bus, like two-thirds of the SEPTA fleet, was equipped with surveillance cameras. Detectives reviewed the video and determined there was "no significant movements by the bus that would explain the claims of injury by the two defendants," said Jamerson.

The charges come as part of a crackdown on insurance fraud. Six people were charged on similar counts last month and an additional six were charged in November.

Contact Sam Wood at 215-854-2796, @samwoodiii or samwood@phillynews.com.

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