Former Reading man accused of claiming his car was stolen after stripping it of engine and transmission

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A former Reading man has been charged with insurance fraud after police said he falsely claimed his car was stolen after it broke down along Route 222 in Spring Township.

Erick J. Marguez Figueroa, 28, of Johnstown, Cambria County remained free to await a hearing after arraignment Monday night before District Judge F. Richard Drumheller in Reading Central Court.

Spring Township police charged him on Oct. 30 with insurance fraud and making a false report.

On Oct. 20, Marquez Figueroa reported his 2011 Audi was stolen after it stalled on the ramp from Broadcasting Road to Route 222 northbound. Unable to get the vehicle ignition to turn on, he left the car there and returned with a rented trailer to haul it away, but when he arrived his car was gone.

Police located the Audi the next day at the Blue Marsh Sheidy Boat Launch along Route 183 in Penn Township. The engine and daul exhaust had been removed and the wheels were replaced with four poor quality wheels, each affixed by only one or two lug nuts.

Officer Gregory Shober confronted Marquez Figueroa with data from license plate readers mounted to traffic signals that were inconsistent with his version of events. The last reading showed the Audi on South Seventh Street in Reading on Sept. 24.

The cameras showed the car had different wheels on it from when it was found a week later. The officer told him he believed he had something to do with his car's disappearance.

On Oct. 24, Marquez Figueroa returned to the Spring Township police station for a second interview and to provide a written statement. Marquez Figueroa said he bought the car two years ago for about $15,000 and was four months behind on his monthly payments.

He said the car broke down on Sept. 24–a little more than a month before he had stated in his claim to police and his insurance company–because it had no engine oil and the motor seized.

He towed it to a parking lot on Seventh Street in the city.

Over the month that followed, he gradually removed the engine and took the motor parts to a scrap yard.

He had a friend rent a utility trailer that he used to tow it to the boat launch.

Marquez Figueroa said he knew the vehicle would have been repossessed due to his default on the car loan so he took its transmission and wheels and filed a stolen-vehicle claim with NJM Insurance.