No. 2: “Polite Arsonist”
The registered owner opened a theft claim, telling her MPI adjuster she had given her car to her 22-year-old son, who reported the keys were stolen while he was attending a house party. The truth would become evident days later thanks to a number of witnesses, who had quite the story to share with police and MPI investigators.
One witness stated that while driving down a road in rural Manitoba around 7 a.m., he was shocked to see a man deliberately light a fire within his vehicle which was parked in a ditch.
As the vehicle quickly became engulfed in flames, the witness stopped and asked if the man was okay. The young man replied, “Yes, thanks. And have a nice day,” before running off into the bush. The witness contacted RCMP.
The investigation would also uncover that the same vehicle had been involved in a hit-and-run collision the previous evening in Winnipeg. After being awoken by the loud crash, a neighbour quickly attended to the crash site where he came upon a young man who told the neighbour “not to speak to police.”
The man, who appeared highly intoxicated, then quickly drove away in a Dodge Nitro ─ the same vehicle which was burned hours later in the rural ditch.
Police showed photos of several individuals to the witnesses, who were able to conclusively identify the driver. With the evidence in hand the claim was denied for false statement, resulting in a savings of $57,000 to Manitoba Public Insurance ratepayers.
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