Brooklyn man involved in viral staged Queens car crash arrested

Maikel Martinez, center, was arrested last week for his role in an allegedly staged car crash on the Belt Parkway last month. Screenshot via X/FearedBuck

By Jacob Kaye

A Brooklyn man was cuffed last week after he allegedly participated in staged a car crash on a Queens street that was caught on a video that soon went viral.

Maikel Martinez, a 28-year-old from Dyker Heights, faces up to two and a third years to seven years in prison after he was one of several people to allegedly help fake a crash on the Belt Parkway.

It all was part of a scheme to fraudulently collect insurance money, the Queens district attorney’s office said.

And it’s possible Martinez and his fellow passengers would have gotten away with it had it not all been caught on the victim’s dashboard camera.

“The defendant and others allegedly staged a crash on a busy highway and rammed an unsuspecting driver with their vehicle after they forcibly stopped her in the left lane of the Belt Parkway,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement. “Countless lives were jeopardized due to this incredibly reckless conduct.”

Prosecutors say that Asphia Natasha was driving her car in the left lane of the Belt Parkway in Rosedale on Oct. 16 shortly after 11 a.m.

Without warning, the driver of a Honda Civic cut in front of Natasha’s car and almost immediately came to a stop.

Natasha, who was talking on the phone with her significant other as the incident unfolded, slammed on the brakes and stopped around 10 to 20 feet short of the Civic.

Then, the driver of the Honda put the car into reverse and slammed into Natasha’s car.

“Oh my god,” Natasha is heard saying on the video just before the collision.

After the crash, someone in the Honda put a tarp up in front of the rear window, partially obstructing what was going on the car. However, video of the incident caught on Natasha’s dashboard camera appears to show the driver switching seats with the front seat passenger.

“This guy just reversed into me,” Natasha is heard saying on the video. “What the hell is going on?”

One by one, the driver and the passengers in the Honda began to get out of the car.

The first to step out of the car was the woman who had allegedly switched over to the driver’s seat after the crash – Martinez, who was the only one who identified himself at the scene, allegedly told Natasha the woman was his wife. After getting out of the car, the woman put her hands to her head and then reached into her pocket, pulled out her phone and began to document the damage.

Martinez was the next person to get out of the car. He appeared to stumble out of the passenger seat and held his head with one his hands, appearing as though he’d been injured.

A second woman who got out of the car also appeared to be feigning an injury.

Natasha remained in her car as Martinez and the two women documented the damage. That’s when a second man, who is believed to be the original driver, walked out of the Honda. But rather than join the three others he was in the car with, he walked to a Kia Sport that had initially been following Natasha’s car but had since pulled in front of the Honda. The unidentified man got into the Kia and was driven away.

Beyond Martinez, none of the other passengers have been identified.

Martinez was arrested on Thursday after he flew into New York from Ecuador.

He was charged with staging a motor vehicle accident in the second degree, criminal mischief in the third degree, reckless endangerment in the first degree, conspiracy in the fifth degree and insurance fraud in the fifth degree.

Queens Criminal Court Judge Jerry Iannece ordered Martinez to return to court on Jan. 7.

The video of the bizarre crash was uploaded to social media shortly after the incident and quickly went viral.

“Dash cams should be a built-in feature in every car because this is insane,” one X user said while sharing the video that was viewed 18 million times.

Prosecutors said they are still on the hunt for Martinez’s alleged co-conspirators.

“This investigation is very much ongoing, and I encourage anyone who suspects that they may have been a victim in a staged car crash to call the NYPD Office of Fraudulent Collision Investigation Squad at 718-822-5403,” Katz said.

Correction: An earlier version of this story erroneously claimed that Martinez was accused of initially driving the Honda into the victim’s car. Martinez is only accused of being a passenger.