Incident location, Long Island
What Happened
Uber Technologies and Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co. filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday alleging that a sophisticated fraud ring orchestrated eight staged hit-and-run accidents targeting Uber vehicles across Nassau County and Westchester County between August 2023 and March 2025, according to court documents filed in New York’s Eastern District. The 14 named defendants, all residing in Brooklyn, Queens, or Westchester, allegedly operated as passengers who claimed fraudulent injuries totaling nearly $313,000 in combined loss payments and expenses.
The elaborate scheme followed a consistent pattern across all incidents, prosecutors contend. Each staged accident occurred late at night on quiet residential side streets with exactly two passengers in the Uber vehicle, typically near the original pickup location. In every case, the Uber vehicle was gently sideswiped by a “co-conspirator” vehicle whose driver immediately fled the scene, leaving minimal damage to the Uber car and no injuries to the driver. However, the passengers later reported serious injuries to their legs, heads, necks, and backs while seeking substantial payouts from Uber’s New York insurance provider.
The first incident occurred on August 13, 2023, shortly after an Uber driver picked up Kevar Taylor and Shamarie Livingston on Brown Avenue in Hempstead, the lawsuit states. Following the minor collision, Taylor and Livingston told the insurance company they suffered back and leg pain, though an arbitrator ultimately determined the crash was “staged” and declined to award any money. Just one week later, the ring targeted another Uber vehicle when Odean Samuels and an unnamed passenger were picked up on Maple Avenue in Hempstead.
The scheme expanded on August 23, 2023, when Konato Campbell and Anelka Green were passengers in a third collision after being picked up on Harrison Avenue in Lynbrook. Court records reveal that Campbell shares an address on East 54th Street in Brooklyn with Samuels from the previous week’s incident. Green, who was arrested with five other men on drug charges in Florida in November 2022, had connections to multiple defendants including Taylor, Livingston, and Renato Campbell, who was later a passenger in an allegedly staged crash on September 22, 2024, in Mount Vernon.
Another crash occurred on October 10, 2023, shortly after Georgette Powell and Omar Zavier Allen were picked up on Irving Street in Valley Stream, the suit alleges. Powell later testified under oath that she is Taylor’s mother, and part of her insurance claim was dismissed after an arbitrator determined the crash was staged. “I find the expression ‘once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, and three times is a pattern’ to be applicable in this situation,” the arbitrator wrote in the decision.
The pattern continued on October 26, 2023, when an Uber driver picked up Vivian Marshall and Diyonta Balfour on Rottkamp Street in Valley Stream. The ride was booked using a phone number linked to a Brooklyn address shared by Powell, Livingston, and Renato Campbell, according to court documents. The most recent crash in the alleged conspiracy occurred March 1, 2025, after a driver picked up Shantia Whittingham and Shedah James near Green Acres Road in Valley Stream. Whittingham and James paid for the Uber ride using the same shared bank account used by Livingston, records state. James was a passenger in two additional rideshare hit-and-run crashes last year, while Whittingham was involved in another separate incident.
Many of the 14 defendants share familial relationships, common addresses, or bank accounts used to access Uber services, creating what prosecutors describe as a coordinated criminal conspiracy. The defendants include Taylor’s mother Powell, and multiple individuals who share the East 54th Street Brooklyn address. Unlike other federal staged accident lawsuits, the Uber case does not allege any coordination with medical providers or law firms, focusing instead on the passenger fraud scheme.
Location & Road Context
The staged accidents targeted specific Nassau County communities including Hempstead, Lynbrook, and Valley Stream, with one additional incident in Mount Vernon, Westchester County. The conspirators deliberately chose quiet residential side streets for their operations, including Brown Avenue and Maple Avenue in Hempstead, Harrison Avenue in Lynbrook, Irving Street and Rottkamp Street in Valley Stream, and Green Acres Road in Valley Stream. These locations provided the ideal conditions for staged accidents - low traffic volume during late-night hours with minimal witnesses, while still maintaining the appearance of legitimate ride-sharing activity in populated suburban areas.
The choice of these particular Nassau County locations appears strategic, as they represent diverse middle-class communities with regular Uber service coverage, making the staged rides less suspicious to drivers and investigators. Valley Stream, which was targeted in three separate incidents, sits along the border with Queens and provides easy access to the Brooklyn addresses where many defendants reside.
Investigation & Legal Proceedings
Uber Technologies has filed similar fraud suits in other states including Florida and California, indicating a broader pattern of staged accident schemes targeting ride-sharing services. The current federal lawsuit seeks to recover the nearly $313,000 in fraudulent payments and associated investigative costs incurred by Uber and Liberty Mutual. Multiple arbitrators have already ruled that several of the crashes were “staged,” with some claims dismissed entirely and no compensation awarded to the alleged victims.
Court records show that several defendants have criminal histories beyond the current allegations. Green’s November 2022 arrest on drug charges in Florida involved five other men, three of whom - Taylor, Livingston, and Renato Campbell - are also named defendants in the current fraud case. Efforts by Newsday to reach the 14 named defendants for comment were unsuccessful.
Broader Impact
The lawsuit comes as Governor Kathy Hochul has launched a statewide crackdown on staged vehicle crashes, which she contends cause vehicle insurance premiums to escalate across New York. The suit contends that the defendants’ coordinated criminal conspiracy has resulted in fraudulent payments and investigative costs that contribute to rising insurance premiums and escalating prices for Uber riders throughout the region. According to the lawsuit, “Though the illicit activities committed by the fraud ring have caused significant damages to each of the plaintiffs, the effects ripple through society causing a much larger harm on the population at large.”