A Louisiana man has been arrested for faking an accident.
Arthur Bates Jr., 47, called 911 after reporting being hit by a Tesla vehicle at a gas station parking lot on Friday, September 3.
Slidell police officers arrived on the scene at the 1400 block of Fremaux Avenue in New Orleans to evaluate the situation.
When police arrived, Bates complained of bodily harm, including neck, back, and leg pain—all the result of a Tesla backing into him, Bates claimed.
Bates then told officers the driver had fled the scene.
When the police tracked down the Tesla driver, the driver disputed Bates' account of the events that had taken place, claiming he had fabricated the story. As proof, the driver offered the police the Tesla camera footage.
When police viewed the footage from the onboard camera, a feature common in Tesla vehicles, they determined Bates hadn't been truthful with them.
As it turns out, Bates had in fact staged the entire incident.
Watch the footage here:
The dashcam footage shows Bates waiting for the Tesla to begin backing out, and then throwing himself to the ground behind the vehicle. The driver then stopped abruptly to avoid hitting Bates.
When the driver exits the car, he walks over to Bates and exchanges words with him while slapping Bates' foot off of the car's bumper. Bates then sat on the ground as the Tesla drove away.
When questioned, Bates admitted he staged the incident. He was then arrested and charged with falsifying a police report, as well as "false swearing with the intent to cause an emergency response."
In a statement about the incident, police said:
"Unbeknownst to Bates, Tesla's (sic) record all the footage of their cameras. When Slidell Police officers reviewed the Tesla's video footage, it became apparent that Bates was lying and staged the entire event."
Police also posted the camera footage on the incident online, which has been viewed over 92,000 times and prompted outrage from local Louisiana residents.
One woman responded to the incident, writing:
"How pathetic this truly is knowing that our LEO's have to answer a call such as this after being pushed and pulled in so many directions handling REAL problems, (Hurricane Ida) victims who have been displaced, no food/water, electricity, no home to return to for some."
"Then you have this parasitic behavior looking to sue with no regard for no one else who is truly suffering."
The incident also prompted both outraged and entertained responses on Twitter.
Bates has been taken into custody but has not had a court appearance at this time.
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