City man charged with insurance fraud

A Crawfordsville man is facing criminal charges after falsely reporting a motorcycle as stolen.

Troy E. Murphy, 40, is charged with Class C felony insurance fraud, Class D felony theft and Class A misdemeanor false reporting. His bond has been set at $6,000 surety or $2,000 cash.

Court records said Murphy filed a police report on Dec. 5. In that report Murphy claimed his garage had been broken into and that his Harley-Davidson motorcycle had been stolen. Murphy told police the motorcycle was worth $16,500 and that he still owed $10,000 on it.

The motorcycle in question was located by Indiana State Police Officers on March 17. The person driving the bike, according to court records, was Murphy.

Further police investigation revealed that Murphy filed a claim with his insurance company on Dec. 14, 2011. Murphy signed a proof of loss sworn statement of vehicle theft, and the insurance company issued the lien holder a check for $13,995.98.

Police interviewed Murphy on April 12. He initially continued telling police his motorcycle had been stolen and that he had no idea where it was. Eventually, he admitted the motorcycle was at his residence.

According to court records Murphy told police he had been getting a lot of overtime when he bought the motorcycle, but that his work hours had recently been cut and the bike payments were putting him in a financial bind. He said he had told other people, who he refused to name, that it would take a lot of burden off him if the motorcycle disappeared.

Murphy said other individuals took the motorcycle from his garage, but that he went and retrieved it shortly afterward.

If convicted on all charges Murphy could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.