An Actor Can Tell When Accident Is Staged

Bryan Clark is one of those guys knocking around Los Angeles who draws double takes wherever he goes. The face looks so familiar, you think you know that guy--but from where?

Such is the lot of a character actor. You may not know his name, but you know Clark’s face from dozens of guest appearances on sitcoms and dramas.

But this little L.A. story is about the time Bryan Clark did a double take of his own. Clark, for a change, was playing the lead.

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Fade in on one-way access road, a little stretch of Cahuenga Boulevard as it passes from Hollywood into the Valley. Clark is behind the wheel, driving to the Toluca Lake Tennis Club.

Up ahead the road narrows from two lanes to one. Suddenly Clark sees a red car swerve over, cutting off the black sedan in front of him, then turn sharply up Lakeridge Road.

The driver of the black sedan slams his brakes. So does Clark--a little too late. They hit. The red car, meanwhile, disappears into the Hollywood Hills.

Commence with the usual drill. Clark provides his insurance information. The other driver explains the car he’s driving belongs to a friend. He and his passenger tell Clark they are unhurt. Clark takes down the driver’s address and the car’s license plate.

Something about it, Clark says, “just didn’t feel right.” Clark is so suspicious that, when he arrives at the club, he calls the LAPD and California Highway Patrol to alert them to the possible scam. Clark then calls his insurance carrier and tells a claims worker about the red car and his suspicions. But without more concrete information, it looks as though Clark, as the driver of the following vehicle, will be held responsible for the collision.

Flash forward a few weeks.

Clark and his wife are driving to the club, his wife at the wheel. Up ahead near Lakeridge Road he sees a Camaro pulled over behind another car. The car is red and it looks awfully familiar.

Another fender-bender in the same spot. Another exchange of information. Clark has his wife pull over.

Clark approaches the woman who had been driving the Camaro. The two men standing outside the red car don’t look familiar, but Clark still tells the woman he thinks she’s being scammed.

Clark jots down the red car’s license, calls his insurance company and talks to a fraud investigator.

A few weeks later, Clark receives a call from the investigator. He learns that the two men in the black auto who said they were unhurt were now complaining of neck pains. But he also learns that investigators have discovered that the owners of the black car and the red car happen to be neighbors.

This strikes the insurance company as more than a coincidence. The claims for damages are denied, and the investigation continues.

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Yes, a fine L.A. story, even if the investigation has not been completed.

“I can confirm, yes, we do have a case pending from Bryan, and we believe it warrants a special investigation,” said Ric Hill, vice president of corporate relations for 20th Century. Hill said he could not divulge details of the investigation, except to say that it should have been forwarded to the state Department of Insurance.

Some fraud rings grow to be quite large. Earlier this year, police in Orange County rounded up 86 participants alleged to have staged crude accidents and bilked insurance companies out of $30 million. Allstate Insurance, meanwhile, filed a $107-million suit against 45 doctors, lawyers, chiropractors and others for their roles in an alleged fraud conspiracy conducted over a six-year period.

What happened to Clark, Hill said, appears to have been what is known as a “swoop and squat”--a technique in which two drivers work together.

“The car swoops in front of the middle car. Then the middle car squats and gets rear-ended,” Hill explained. “The thinking is, if someone’s injured, the driver in back is automatically at fault. . . .

“Individuals inclined to engage in this behavior have to do it more than once. They build an m.o., and a record that follows them.”

Nationwide, fraud is estimated to add $300 to the average annual auto insurance premium, Hill said. In the past five years, he said, 20th Century’s own investigations have saved $100 million in fraudulent claims in California alone that otherwise would have been passed on to consumers.

Fraud is so pervasive that the insurance executive said Clark’s experience is hardly unique. Hill says he’s heard of other scam victims happening upon scams in progress. Meanwhile, many motorists attuned to fraud are volunteering their eyewitness accounts of suspicious accidents.

Bryan Clark quickly derived the benefits. He got a fine tale to tell, touched as it is with elements of serendipity and sweet revenge. Besides, once the insurance company smelled a rat, the accident was wiped from his record.

Not every L.A. story ends with the good guys winning.

So Bryan Clark, take a bow.

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Scott Harris’ column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Readers may write to him at The Times’ Valley Edition, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth 91311, or via e-mail at scott.harris@latimes.com Please include a phone number.