Five people throughout Evangeline and St. Landry parishes have been arrested for allegedly staging a vehicle crash, violating Louisiana insurance fraud laws.

Louisiana State Police say the staged crash involved the five adults and three children between the ages of 9 and 15. The December 2015 incident involved a passenger car and a rental vehicle near Ville Platte.

"The goal of the staged crash was to generate fraudulent insurance claims for intentionally damaged property and fake bodily injuries," says spokesman Master Trooper Brooks David.

Today, State Police detectives arrested the following suspects and booked them into the Evangeline Parish Jail:

  • 66-year-old Winston Dupre of Pollock - Insurance Fraud, Filing False Public Records
  • 32-year-old Sheba Williams of Opelousas - Insurance Fraud, Filing False Public Records and Contributing to the Delinquency of a Juvenile (2 counts)
  • 26-year-old Lucinda Williams of Ville Platte - Insurance Fraud
  • 24-year-old Delores Bias of Eunice - Insurance Fraud
  • 36-year-old Melanie Malveaux of Mamou - Insurance Fraud, Contributing to the Delinquency of a Juvenile

Anyone having information concerning persons staging vehicle crashes, or committing other forms of insurance fraud, should contact the Louisiana State Police Insurance Fraud / Auto Theft Unit at (225) 925-3701 or insurance.fraud.unit@dps.la.gov.

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