YouTube videos of car crashes on dashcam lead to San Bernardino County couple's arrest
The California Department of Insurance announced that YouTube videos led to the arrest of a San Bernardino County couple on suspicion of multiple felony counts of insurance fraud.
On Wednesday, Christopher and Kimberly Phelps, both 40, of Yucaipa, were arrested on suspicion of fraud, assault with a deadly weapon and child endangerment, according to the SBC District Attorney’s Office, who is prosecuting the case.
The charges stemmed from the couple causing collisions in an attempt to collect undeserved insurance payouts, the state agency stated.
Christopher Phelps was previously arrested last month on similar charges.
The investigation
The CDI began an investigation after the SBC Sheriff’s Department became aware of a YouTube channel where dashcam videos of traffic collisions and road rage incidents were uploaded.
The investigation connected Christopher Phelps to the YouTube channel “BLU3 GHO57,” which included approximately 162 dashcam videos of vehicle collisions.
Some of those videos show attempted or near collisions, road rage incidents, and other content involving the couple. In multiple incidents, Christopher Phelps’ child is also in the vehicle, according to authorities.
The investigation discovered approximately 23 collisions documented on the channel, which were 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 appeared to be intentional acts. The CDI’s investigation included numerous search warrants, collecting and reviewing hours of videos, and attempting to locate additional victims through videos posted to CDI’s social media accounts.
The “BLU3 GHO57” YouTube Channel has been removed, but several “road rage” themed channels feature videos with clips from the deleted channel, authorities said.
Yucaipa collision
Last month, the CDI was contacted by the SBC Sheriff’s Department after Christopher Phelps was involved in a suspicious collision in Yucaipa.
Authorities said it appeared that Phelps stopped for no apparent reason and caused a truck, pulling a trailer, to rear-end his vehicle.
Shortly after the collision, Phelps posted to YouTube a rear-facing dashcam video of the moments leading up to the collision, according to authorities.
CDI detectives responded to the area of the collision in Yucaipa and canvassed the area for surveillance video and witnesses, which led to the earlier arrest. Following that arrest, he posted bail and was released.
Arrests and charges
Christopher Phelps has been charged with six felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon, 11 felony counts of insurance fraud, and five felony counts of child endangerment.
Kimberly Phelps has been charged with two counts of felony child endangerment and one count of felony insurance fraud.
Christopher Phelps was previously charged with one felony count of assault with a deadly weapon and one felony count of causing a vehicle collision to present a false claim following his arrest last month.
Detectives arrested the couple Wednesday in San Bernardino.
Christopher Phelps was booked at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga and is being held on $500,000 bail.
Kimberly Phelps was booked at the Central Detention Center in San Bernardino and is being held on $500,000 bail.
Anyone with information about the case, accusers or witnesses can contact Detective Matthew Carter at 909-919-2215 or matthew.carter@insurance.ca.gov.
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: YouTube videos of vehicle collisions lead to arrest of Yucaipa couple
