ST. LOUIS – Adrian Peebles, a 31-year-old man from St. Louis, admitted on Monday to orchestrating several auto accidents and faking injuries to defraud insurance companies out of more than $100,000.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Missouri, Peebles pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud. The fraudulent scheme occurred between September 2021 and January 2023.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office stated that Peebles staged the accidents at night in remote areas to minimize the chances of being discovered. He would then claim injuries to responding officers. Following the staged accidents, individuals would go to the emergency room, complaining of “non-determinative pain that required expensive tests that never identified any particular injury,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported.
Peebles allegedly insisted that payments from the vehicle insurance companies be made directly to him rather than the hospital. He then failed to pay his medical bills. The scheme resulted in two insurance companies collectively losing $107,951.
Peebles is scheduled to be sentenced on April 17.
