62-year old Carmen Arreguin filed a stolen vehicle report with the Fresno Police Department on November 20, 2018. In the report she stated her GMC Sierra had been stolen from her Fresno home.
She also filed a claim with her auto insurance company, Coast National Insurance. A week later, the car was found abandoned in a rural part of Fresno County; it had been partially burned.
An investigator certified in fire and explosives examined the GMC Sierra. There was no evidence the vehicle was accessed through force or that the anti-theft system had been disabled.
There was evidence the vehicle was intentionally set on fire with the use of an accelerant.
Additionally, detectives with the California Department of Insurance found evidence linking Arreguin to the area where the car was burned the evening it was set on fire.
Arreguin was arraign for insurance fraud, arson, and reporting a false crime with the purpose of receiving an underserved insurance payout at the Fresno County Superior Court on December 2 nd with her next expected court date set for January 20, 2021. The Fresno County District Attorney’s Office will be prosecuting the case.
