

Joshua Freeman, CP24.com





Four Toronto residents have been charged after allegedly trying to stage a hit-and-run collision in King Township, York Regional Police say.

The incident dates back to Jan. 10. Police received a call about a hit-and-run collision at the intersection of Weston and Lloydtown-Aurora roads at 8:30 p.m.

Police arrived to find a damaged Volvo station wagon at the intersection with two women inside complaining of injuries.

The women had to be removed by firefighters and were taken to hospital.

The woman who claimed to be the driver told police that her vehicle had been in the intersection when it was struck by a white truck that fled the scene.

After combing through surveillance footage from a nearby business, police found that the collision had been staged and no hit-and-run had taken place.

“The previously damaged vehicle was towed to the intersection and placed there,” Const. Andy Pattenden told CP24.com.

The accused later submitted false claims to try and get money from their insurance company, police said.

Pattenden said it wasn’t clear how the vehicle was originally damaged.

Four people are now facing a list of charges, police said.

Fatin Elias, 46, Jourjeet Shahara, 52, Samid Shehara, 47 and Salam Shehara, 34, have each been charged with fraud over $5,000, conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, false pretense, uttering forged documents, public mischief and obstructing police.

Pattenden said that if convicted, some of the charges carry potential jail time. He said fines to cover the cost of the emergency responders could also be part of sentencing if the accused are found guilty.