U-Haul has filed a lawsuit against a group of Bay Area residents, accusing them of intentionally crashing a U-Haul truck into another vehicle to fraudulently collect on an insurance claim.
The plaintiffs in the case are U-Haul Co. of California, U-Haul Co. of Arizona, and ARCOA Risk Retention Group, Inc. They allege that the defendants knowingly conspired to defraud them through an illegal scheme where they leased a rental truck and intentionally crashed it for fraudulent insurance claims.
The named defendants include Angela Mitchel, of San Francisco; Mario Inaudi, of San Francisco; Christian Lozada, of Daly City; Lisa Meyer, of Santa Rosa; Jamie Wright, of San Francisco; and Jeffrey Russell, of South San Francisco.
Jonathan Colman
| Colman Perkins Law Group
The lawsuit was filed Feb. 14 in San Francisco County Superior Court.
According to the complaint, Mitchel allegedly rented a 15-foot 2012 Ford U-Haul truck from a leasing center in San Francisco on Oct. 8, 2022, shortly before 7 p.m. Her rental included the purchase of optional insurance coverage offered by U-Haul, with coverage up to $1 million. Inaudi was listed as an authorized driver on the contract.
At about 2 a.m. on Oct. 12, Mitchel allegedly reported the truck stolen.
About an hour later, the truck was allegedly involved in a hit and run crash near the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and Cesar Chavez Street in San Francisco. The crash involved a 2003 GMC Yukon, owned and driven by Lozada. Meyer, Wright and Russell were in the Yukon as passengers, according to the complaint.
According to the lawsuit, the U-Haul was abandoned at the scene.
According to the complaint, all of those who had been riding in the Yukon filed claims for coverage for alleged injuries allegedly suffered in the crash.
However, later investigation by San Francisco Police, including surveillance footage provided by Mitchel, allegedly indicated Inaudi was driving the U-Haul at the time of the collision with Lozada's vehicle.
According to the lawsuit, all of the people involved in the incident have lengthy insurance or workers' compensation claims.
The complaint asserts the incident was allegedly linked to an organized insurance fraud ring.
U-Haul is asking the court to declare Mitchel's insurance contract void, asserting various breaches of contract, unclean hands, breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing and fraud.
U-Haul is represented in the action by attorneys Jonathan H. Colman and Dan A. Everakes, of Colman Perkins Law Group, of Glendale.