Brooklyn man charged in viral Belt Parkway crash plot caught on victim's dashcam: DA – QNS

A Brooklyn man has been criminally charged with orchestrating a car crash on the Belt Parkway in Rosedale last month that was captured by the dashboard camera in the victim's car and went viral on social media after being posted on TikTok, where it was viewed by millions of people was viewed worldwide.

Maikel Martinez, 28, of 14th Avenue in Dyker Heights, was arrested by police officers at JFK Airport on Thursday after arriving back in Queens on a flight from Ecuador, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Friday.

Martinez was arraigned Thursday night in Queens Criminal Court on charges of orchestrating a motor vehicle accident, criminal mischief, reckless endangerment, conspiracy and insurance fraud.

According to the charges, around 11:11 a.m. on Oct. 16, Ashpia Natasha was driving north in the left lane of the Belt Parkway in Rosedale, near the Nassau County line. The woman's vehicle was equipped with a dashboard camera on both the front and rear. At this point, a silver Honda Civic pulled in front of Natasha's vehicle and stopped abruptly. The victim had to slam on the brakes to avoid a collision. The Honda then quickly backed into Natasha's vehicle, damaging both her car and the Honda.

@ashpianatasha4 Insurance Fraud Attempt in Queens, NY 10/16/2024 PART 1 I was driving east in the left lane of the Belt Parkway toward the Southern State Parkway. The silver Honda (LBB 8917) was in the middle lane and they cut me off, slammed on the brakes and eventually came to a stop hoping I would hit them. I didn't hit their car and so they backed into my car and acted like they were hurt when they got out. I think the intent was to say I hit her car for insurance fraud. They had a tarp over the back window that fell off when they hit my car. You can see that the driver is a man wearing a hat, and you can see him move into the passenger seat and the car move before someone gets out. The first three passengers exit the car, pretending to be injured, while the fourth passenger, who was driving, slips out through the passenger seat and gets into a second vehicle. The second vehicle was a red KIA SUV (KJH 3340) that followed me from behind, keeping my distance so they wouldn't hit me. The red KIA spun around and picked up the driver to get away. The behavior of the remaining three people changed when one of them noticed the dashcam. They only got out of the car with their cell phones to record the damage to both cars. They quickly asked about my insurance and quickly left after the exchange. I called the police at the time of the incident and reported it as an accident. The police told me that if no one gets hurt and they are willing to share information, they will not commit any more accidents. I didn't realize at the time that the driver had changed and moved into another car or that it was a tampering as I was driving alone and everything happened so quickly. #queensny #car #caraccident #exposed #newyork #brooklynny @nbcnews @abcnews @nypd @geico @allstate @pix11ny ♬ Original sound – Ashpia Natasha

The occupants of the Honda held up what appeared to be a plastic sheet in the rear window area of ​​the car, partially blocking the victim's driver's view into the Honda, and the occupants of the vehicle changed their seating arrangements in the Honda.

After the collision, four people exited the Honda, including a woman who got out on the driver's side and a man who identified himself as Maikel Martinez and said the suspected driver was his wife. According to prosecutors, another woman and a man who got out of the Honda have not been identified at this time.

Footage surrounding the accident showed a red Kia Sport following Natasha's car. After the accident, the Kia stopped in front of the Honda and a fourth occupant of the Honda exited the car and got into the Kia, which drove away from the scene. The NYPD investigation is ongoing.

“The defendant and others allegedly staged an accident on a busy highway and struck an unsuspecting female driver with their vehicle after forcibly stopping her in the left lane of the Belt Parkway,” Katz said. “Countless lives have been put at risk by this reckless behavior.”

Martinez pleaded not guilty and Queens Criminal Court Judge Jerry Iannece ordered him to return to court on January 7, 2025. If convicted, Martinez could face up to two and a half to seven years in prison.

“This investigation is ongoing,” Katz said. “And I encourage anyone who suspects they may have been the victim of a staged car accident to call the New York Police Department’s Fraud Investigations Bureau at 718-822-5403.”