A San José man was sentenced to 60 days in county jail for mendacity to his insurance coverage firm after he brake-checked a semi-truck on the freeway in a match of highway rage, prosecutors stated.
Ken Pham Tran, 53, was convicted final month of felony insurance coverage fraud, felony vandalism and reckless driving, a misdemeanor, stemming from a highway rage incident on Freeway 101 in January 2025, in accordance with the Santa Clara County district lawyer’s workplace.
Prosecutors stated Tran thought the truck had reduce him off and have become indignant, catching up in his Jeep Wrangler Rubicon after which pulling in entrance of it and twice slamming on his brakes. The semi-truck driver tried to vary lanes to keep away from the Jeep, however Tran maneuvered the automobile in entrance of the truck a 3rd time and brake-checked him once more.
Dashcam video of the incident confirmed site visitors slowing down far forward of the white Jeep because it stopped abruptly in entrance of the semi, inflicting the truck to rear-end the car.
“Highway rage. Reckless driving. Insurance coverage fraud. This particular person made plenty of unhealthy choices,” Dist. Atty. Jeff Rosen stated in a ready assertion.
Tran couldn’t instantly be reached for remark.
After the crash, Tran referred to as 911 and reported the truck driver for a hit-and-run, mendacity to police that he was stopped in site visitors when he was hit, prosecutors stated. They added that Tran additionally didn’t disclose the true reason behind the crash when he filed a declare with Progressive Insurance coverage.
However Tran wasn’t the one one who referred to as 911 in regards to the crash.
One other driver had referred to as police to report they needed to swerve out of the best way of a white Jeep Wrangler Rubicon that was “driving recklessly and brake-checking a semi-truck on the 101 Freeway,” the California Division of Insurance coverage wrote in a information launch.
The witness informed authorities it didn’t seem that the semi-truck had a chance to keep away from the crash.
A decide additionally ordered Tran to pay $1,200 in restitution to Progressive Insurance coverage and simply over $3,000 to Invoice Jacobsen Trucking, in accordance with the district lawyer’s workplace.
