(KRON) — A San Jose man was convicted of trying to profit from his road rage by submitting to his insurance company crash damages that he caused, prosecutors said.
Ken Pham Tran, 53, was convicted last week of felony insurance fraud and reckless driving following a trial, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said.
Tran allegedly told Progressive Insurance that damages on his white Jeep Wrangler Rubicon were caused by an accident.
On January 28, 2025, Tran was driving on Highway 101 near the Alum Rock Avenue onramp when he got into a road rage incident.
A semi-truck’s dash camera revealed that the crash was caused by Tran when he repeatedly slammed on his brakes in front of the truck, prosecutors said. Tran was allegedly angry because he thought the truck had cut him off on Highway 101.
The DA’s office wrote, “Furious because he felt he had been cut off, Tran caught up to the semi-truck at the Story Road underpass and ‘brake checked’ two times. The semi-truck driver tried to change lanes to avoid the Jeep, but Tran maneuvered his vehicle to stay in front of the truck and ‘brake checked’ the truck a third time. This time, the truck driver was unable to stop and rear-ended the Jeep.”
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Tran called 911 and reported the truck driver for a hit-and-run accident. In his statement to police, Tran allegedly lied and said he was stopped for traffic when he was rear-ended. He then made an insurance claim where he minimized and omitted his unsafe driving, prosecutors said.
District Attorney Jeff Rosen said, “Beyond endangering people’s lives, including his own, this defendant pretended his own reckless driving was simply an accident. Trying to defraud an insurance company is bad enough. Trying to profit from your own road rage is outrageous and we will seek an appropriate punishment.”
Tran will be sentenced on July 10 at the Hall of Justice in San Jose. He faces jail time.
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