“Insurance fraud costs all of us money in higher premiums, and staged collisions put innocent people at risk of physical and financial harm.  We commend the work of CDI investigators and detectives as they work to protect the public, as well as consumers, from harm.”

CSLEA President Alan Barcelona

LOS ANGELES — On May 27, 2026, four Southern California drivers were arraigned in an alleged staged collision scheme that endangered an innocent driver and is tied to coordinated insurance fraud. The defendants are identified as

• Jhoiner Rodriguez Celis, 31, of Anaheim,
• Melissa Cervantes De La Torre, 30, of Upland,
• Nailer Mendez Diaz, 35, of Anaheim,
• and Plata Sampayo, 28, of Upland.

The arraignment follows an investigation by the Inland Empire Automobile Insurance Fraud Task Force, which includes the California Department of Insurance, California Highway Patrol, the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office, and the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.

The investigation, “All You Can Claim,” began after the Upland Police Department contacted the task force after they suspected multiple crashes of being staged for insurance payouts. Detectives determined the defendants were friends and found that on June 8, 2025, they allegedly staged a collision in Upland by intentionally crashing into one another. Further investigation revealed, on April 21, 2025, Plata Sampayo and Cervantes De La Torre allegedly caused a separate collision in Montclair where they targeted an innocent driver who was not connected to the scheme.

Detectives reviewed body-worn camera footage from the Upland Police Department related to the June 8 collision, which shows officers arriving at the scene after the crash where Plata Sampayo and Cervantes De La Torre were in a vehicle that struck another vehicle occupied by Rodriguez Celis and Mendez Diaz. Detectives determined all four sought medical attention after the crash in an alleged attempt to legitimize their alleged injuries and increase insurance payouts. The estimated loss in this case was $36,000.

The task force, Department of Insurance detectives, Upland Police Department SWAT team, and Riverside County District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Investigation executed search warrants at four locations and arrested the defendants on March 19, 2026. Plata Sampayo also had an outstanding warrant for robbery out of Los Angeles County. All were booked at the West Valley Detention Center.