View this article online: https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2023/05/25/722233.htm
Christopher Phelps, 40, of Yucaipa, and his wife, Kimberly Phelps, 40, were sentenced this week after pleading no contest to felony counts of insurance fraud, child abuse and assault with a deadly weapon.
The sentencing comes after a California Department of Insurance investigation revealed the couple caused collisions in an attempt to collect undeserved insurance payouts.
CDI detectives arrested the couple March 22 in San Bernardino. The CDI’s investigation began after the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department became aware of a YouTube channel where dashcam videos of traffic collisions and road rage incidents were posted. The investigation connected the channel to Christopher Phelps under the name “BLU3 GHO57.” The channel had roughly 162 dashcam videos of vehicle collisions, attempted or near collisions, road rage incidents, and other content involving the couple. In multiple incidents Christopher Phelps’ child is also in the vehicle.
The investigation reportedly discovered 23 collisions documented on the channel linked to 17 insurance claims filed by Christopher Phelps and 42 videos related to road rage incidents and attempted collisions involving him. Several of the videos reportedly appeared to be intentional acts.
Prior to the arrest in March, the department was contacted by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office after Christopher Phelps was involved in a collision, appearing to stop for no apparent reason and causing a truck pulling a trailer to rear-end his vehicle. Shortly after the collision, he reportedly posted to YouTube a rear-facing dashcam video of the moments leading up to the collision. Department detectives responded to the area of the collision in Yucaipa and canvased the area for surveillance video and witnesses, which led to an earlier arrest.
Christopher Phelps was sentenced to three years in state prison and is currently in the custody of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. His driver’s license was revoked because of the assault with a deadly weapon charge. Kimberly Phelps was sentenced to 90 days in weekend county jail/work release, three years of supervised probation and to attend a 52-week child abuse prevention program. She is currently out on bail. The couple is scheduled to return to court on July 7 for a restitution hearing.
The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case.