Fugitive Tied to Accident Fraud Seized

In a major break for local prosecutors, authorities in Texas have arrested a fugitive alleged to be a key player in a fraud case involving staged accidents with big trucks that killed one man on the Golden State Freeway near Sun Valley.

Los Angeles Deputy Dist. Atty. Max Huntsman described the capture of Filemon Santiago, 25, outside a Houston video store last week as significant, particularly because he is the suspected link between participants in the June, 1992, crash and an attorney who has been charged with murder.

“He is alleged to be the ‘capper’ who set up the accidents,” Huntsman said.

“Cappers,” or auto wreck stagers, work directly with attorneys to set up accidents aimed at collecting thousands of dollars in insurance claims on behalf of passengers. Cappers also recruit passengers to ride inside cars that purposely get into wrecks, often by stopping in front of other vehicles.

Authorities allege Santiago organized wrecks for attorney and Encino resident Gary Miller, described by prosecutors as the mastermind of the ring. The case gained widespread attention after a crash killed Jose Luis Lopez Perez, 29.

Santiago, Miller, the car’s driver and two passengers face murder charges stemming from the crash. The incident was one of a chain of similar, staged wrecks involving trucks and gained nationwide attention as evidence of an escalation in the relatively common phenomenon of staged crashes on city streets.

After the wreck, a passenger in the car in which Perez died and the owner of the car both identified Santiago as the “capper,” alleging he is a key link in the case.

California Highway Patrol investigators subsequently tied Miller to the crash when some of his business cards were found at Santiago’s West Hollywood home, court records show. Santiago, however, had fled and was not found during that search.

Eight suspected fake accidents have been linked in court records to Miller. All of the cases appeared to involve Santiago and financial records documented frequent payments to Santiago from Miller’s office--at least $20,000 in a 14-month period ending in September, 1991.

During a 1992 bail hearing for Miller, prosecutors and defense attorneys submitted into evidence what they identified as an extortion note from Santiago, discovered during a CHP search of Miller’s house.

In it, Santiago asked for $20,000 to “get myself and my family out of here in order to start a new life.” He said he knew authorities wanted “to get me in order to get Gary” and concluded with the postscript: “Please don’t let me down because I won’t let you down if you work with me.”

Investigators for the California Department of Insurance tracked Santiago down in Houston last week after receiving a tip that he was living under the alias Jonathan Mendez Ruiz and that he was driving a red Toyota Celica, authorities said. Two investigators followed Santiago from an apartment building to a video store where they detained him until Houston police arrived and arrested him.

Huntsman, of the Los Angeles district attorney’s office, said Santiago is fighting extradition.

Of the 30 defendants indicted in October, 1992, in connection with the ring, nine have been convicted, 14--including attorney Miller--are headed for trial and seven face outstanding arrest warrants.

Harland Braun, an attorney representing Miller, said the arrest of Santiago should help, not hinder, his client’s case.

“If he tells the truth, they’ll dismiss the case against Miller,” Braun said. “The truth is that Gary had no idea they were setting up these big-rig accidents.”

Braun added that at the time of his death, Perez had in his wallet two other attorneys’ business cards and not Miller’s.

A pretrial hearing for three of those charged with murder--Miller and crash passengers Rubidia Lopez and Isiais Antonio Aguilar Martinez--has been set for April 11. A hearing for Jorge Sanchez, the driver in the accident who is also charged with murder, is set for April 7.