It’s sometimes astounding to learn what people will try to come up with to get out of trouble. The owner of Tesla said that it had been struck by a vehicle owned by two women, but they told deputies in Texas that the crash wasn’t their fault. Someone had apparently taken over their car and caused the collision. Unfortunately for them, footage from the Tesla’s cameras told a different story.
Both women say they were victims of an armed robbery
On October 24, deputies responded to a call about a hit-and-run crash involving a parked Tesla, according to a post by Mark Herman, Harris County Constable Precinct 4, on its official Facebook page. The incident occurred at the 1800 block of Laurel Valley Drive, which a search on Google Maps shows is a side street in a residential area in Houston.
The vehicle’s owner told deputies that the Tesla had been damaged by another vehicle that fled the scene of the collision. Surveillance footage taken from the Tesla revealed that a blue Audi had struck the vehicle and drove away. That could have led to an arduous search for the Audi, but deputies remembered that they heard about another call that may have been related to the crash.
Upon further investigation, police learned about another incident where two females, Kenyarda Mesh Leavell and Portia Ellis, had made a call after they said an armed robber had taken over their Audi. They allege that an unknown male had entered the vehicle, threatened them with a firearm, and was later responsible for the collision with the Tesla.
However, when deputies looked over the camera footage from the Tesla, they uncovered inconsistencies with the story the women told. That’s when investigators say Leavell and Ellis admitted that the story about the armed robber was fake and they had fabricated the tale in an attempt to get out of a possible arrest for a DWI.
Constable Mark Herman said in a statement that Leavell and Ellis was arrested and booked into Harris County Jail. They were both charged with a false report to police, with Leavell receiving an additional charge of failure to stop and give information. Their bonds have been set to $100 per charge.
