Insurance fraud convictions upheld for former PSPD officer and his father
A state appeals court panel today upheld the 2016 insurance fraud convictions of a former Palm Springs police officer and his father, whose claim that the younger defendant’s BMW was stolen was
contradicted by video evidence that showed the pair dropping the car off at a friend’s home on the day it supposedly went missing.
John Mejia, now 36, was a Palm Springs officer when he and his father, Robert Mejia, now 65, were found guilty and sentenced to three years probation.
The ex-officer’s wife Crystal, now 34, was also found guilty of insurance fraud and sentenced to three years probation, but the three-justice panel from California’s 4th District Court of Appeal ruled that her conviction should be overturned due to a lack of sufficient evidence showing that she knowingly participated in the fraud.
The trial jury acquitted her of a felony count of preparing a false document in support of a fraudulent insurance claim.
The car was reported stolen on April 13, 2014, with John Mejia alleging that the car was taken from his in-laws’ condominium in Palm Springs. Utilizing a feature that tracks and provides GPS coordinates on newer BMW models, police located the car on April 15 at a home in Hesperia.
The homeowner, a longtime friend of Robert Mejia, told investigators that he had brought the car to the house a few days prior, the appellate court’s opinion states.
When questioned, the elder Mejia claimed he had taken the BMW from his son as part of a birthday prank, in which he would later return the car filled with gifts.
However, surveillance footage taken from the Hesperia home showed the father and son arriving in separate cars on the morning of April 13, with the younger man behind the wheel of the BMW, the opinion states. John is seen in the footage removing the BMW’s license plates and then leaving with his father in one car. The BMW was reported stolen about six hours later.
The license plates were later found at John and Crystal’s home, one in their garage and the other on top of their refrigerator, according to the opinion.
While a theft claim was made with State Farm, the couple’s insurance company, no money was ever paid to them on the claim. The car was located before they could complete an Affidavit of Theft, according to the appellate court’s opinion.
