Police: Asheville man deliberately caused wrecks

ASHEVILLE – A city man who's been involved in more than a dozen wrecks in three years is facing charges after investigators say he deliberately caused traffic accidents in the Asheville area and attempted to fraudulently collect insurance after the wrecks.

Byron Benson Fulghum Jr., 26, of Sand Hill Road, was charged Thursday with six counts of felony insurance fraud, according to warrants at the Buncombe County magistrate's office.

Fulghum also has been charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of injury to personal property and two counts of reckless driving in connection with wrecks earlier this year, according to court records.

Asheville police detective Travis Barkley began investigating Fulghum in March, according to a search warrant application written by Barkley seeking permission to search Fulghum's home, vehicle and digital devices.

"Fulghum's driver history shows he has been in 14 wrecks in Buncombe County since July 2012, as well as others in Henderson and Haywood counties. Many of these reported wrecks happen in the same locations and under similar circumstances," Barkley wrote in the warrant narrative.

According to the warrant, Barkley and another detective happened to drive by a March 26 accident on Interstate 240 involving Fulghum and another motorist, a wreck that was investigated by APD patrol officers. That evening, Barkley wrote, "a concerned citizen showed detective Barkley a dash-cam video they found on YouTube of what they interpreted as a subject intentionally causing a traffic accident."

Barkley recognized the wreck in the video as the one he had passed earlier that day. Police traced the video to Fulghum, Barkley wrote, and discovered two other wreck videos involving Fulghum, one from Jan. 3 and another from Feb. 9.

"Detective Barkley formed the opinion, after reviewing the three videos, that Fulghum made no effort to avoid a collision in each incident and appears to intentionally strike the other involved vehicles," Barkley wrote.

Among the items searched were digital records from a video dash-cam that was installed in Fulghum's Ford Focus, according to the warrant.

While no one has been seriously injured, some of the accidents have been serious. In the March 26 wreck involving Fulghum and a 74-year-old Alexander woman, officers determined from dash-cam video from Fulghum's car that he "intentionally turned into the right rear corner of Unit 1 (the woman's car) and intentionally caused it to rotate and flip," according to the warrant.

Police estimated the woman's 2001 Subaru Forester sustained $7,000 in damage in the crash, while Fulghum's Ford suffered $2,200 in damage, according to the accident report from the wreck.

The insurance fraud charges, filed by the N.C. Department of Insurance, allege that Fulghum submitted claims between December 2014 and March 2015 to his own insurance company and to insurance providers for the other drivers that contained "false and misleading information," according to the warrants. In each case, Fulghum claimed the other driver was at fault, according to warrants. But the warrants allege that Fulghum "maneuvered and positioned" his car in such a way that caused the accidents.

Asheville police spokeswoman Christina Halligse said Friday the investigation is ongoing.

"Detective Barkley is working in cooperation with the District Attorney's Office and the Highway Patrol to pursue any potential additional charges," Hallingse said.

Fulghum was released after posting a $10,000 secured bond.