Full story in The Advocate

By Olivia Tees

A Baton Rouge couple was arrested by Louisiana Bureau of Investigation agents in February for attempting to defraud an insurance company of $30,000 over a car crash. Investigators found the pair was not in the car at the time of the alleged incident.

Agents from the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation learned that both Sarai Stansberry, 37, and Rhashiedi Porter, 48, allegedly filed a false insurance claim involving a minor car crash in a parking lot, according to an announcement from Attorney General Liz Murrill’s Office.

During the investigation, agents learned that Stansberry and Porter had given sworn testimonies that they were in the vehicle and properly restrained when it was hit by another vehicle. The couple also claimed they needed five months of medical treatment.

However, surveillance video obtained by the insurance company showed that neither of them was in the vehicle at the time of the crash.

When the couple was presented with this video footage, they dropped the lawsuit.

Further investigation proved that the couple intentionally submitted a false claim with the explicit intent to defraud the insurance company, according to the AG’s Office.

Louisiana Bureau of Investigation agents arrested Stansberry and Porter on Feb. 23 at the 8500 block of Pontchartrain Boulevard and were booked into the Orleans Parish Jail.

Each of them is charged with insurance fraud, perjury, false swearing and filing public records.