NEW SHARON – A New Sharon man was summoned Wednesday for insurance fraud after his burned-out vehicle was found in Temple, according to Detective David St. Laurent of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department.
Luis Alves, 35, will appear in Franklin County District Court on June 22 to answer to charges of insurance deception and unsworn falsification, St. Laurent said Thursday.
Police began an investigation when a Temple resident reported finding a burned 1997 Chevrolet Blazer stuck in the mud on Day Mountain Road on April 16. License plates on the truck led police to the New Sharon man, who said he had been out of town overnight. He verified the vehicle had been taken, St. Laurent said.
Police summoned Alves on fraud charges after interviewing several witnesses who indicated he had “asked certain things of people,” St. Laurent said. Alves was charged because it appears it was “a planned episode,” St. Laurent said.
Suspecting possible arson, police also asked state fire investigators to conduct a forensic inspection of the vehicle, valued at $4,000 to $5,000, at Collins Enterprises Inc. in Wilton, where it had been towed. Fire inspectors are still determining if the vehicle fire was intentional.
Others could be charged in the incident, St. Laurent said.
Alves faces up to six years in jail for Class C and Class D misdemeanors because the vehicle was worth more than $1,000 and Alves falsified statements to his insurance company, according to the detective.
Cpl. Nathan Bean and Detective Thomas White of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department also assisted in the investigation.
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