The deepening recession might be pushing people who are already in debt to take desperate measures.
In Newark, N.J., the workers at B and C Towing used to get one or two torched cars a month. Now they are seeing as many cars in a week’s time. They suspect these cars were torched to collect insurance money because many of the cars still have radios, airbags, rims, lights, and CD players inside. If a thief torched the car to destroy evidence, experts say, more than likely, it would be stripped of anything valuable.
Car arsons have become so rampant in Essex County that the prosecutor’s office has its own task force dedicated to investigating these crimes. According to Essex County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Morris, while Newark typically gets 300 to 400 arson cases a year, the rest of the state may only get about 25. Part of the reason Newark is such a hotspot, he believes, is its location -- surrounded on all sides by highways, with a lot of desolate, industrial areas, the city might be a perfect dumping ground for torched cars.
Insurance fraud can be punished by up to 10 years in prison, but investigators say many who are arrested for this are otherwise law-abiding citizens, who have never been in trouble with the law before. In February, the former principal of a New Jersey elementary school was convicted of insurance fraud. Prosecutors say 52-year-old Amanda tafford-Wright, asked someone to set her car on fire so that she could collect the insurance payout.
Essex County Prosecutor Paula Dow is skeptical that this is entirely sriven by economic hardship because prior to the recession, Newark still had plenty of car arson cases. When gas prices went through the roof, there was also an up tick in these cases. “I think it’s tied first to greed and then second to desperation,” said Dow. “And I think when those factorsare coming together as they are now, what we’re seeing is a major problem.”
