Police: Scranton Man Lied About Truck, Boat and Trailer Being Stolen

A Scranton man claimed his red pickup truck and the boat and trailer it was towing was stolen Good Friday from the shoulder of Route 33 in , but authorities say it didn’t happen and they have cell phone records to prove it.

Rodrigo Moreno Palomares, 31, who was charged Wednesday with insurance fraud and related offenses, told state police at Belfast on April 22 that he pulled over on southbound Route 33 near the Stockertown exit after noticing smoke from the trailer's rear axle. He said he called a friend in Scranton around 11 a.m., asking him to come down and assist. Palomares said the friend arrived around noon, according to court records.

But cell phone records show Palomares making a call at 11:47 a.m. that connected to a tower on Summit Avenue in Mount Pocono, about 30 miles from where he said he pulled over. If he had made a call from the Route 33 location, it would have connected to a tower in Stockertown, the court records say. Also, the cell phone records do not show the suspect calling his friend at the time he said he did, but they show he called 911 at 12:28 p.m. in a call that connected to the Stockertown tower.

Palomares also told police he had left the truck keys “sitting on the bed cover of the truck.” The records did not say if and when the truck, boat and trailer were found.

Other details from the court records:

• Palomares told police he and his friend went to the Shell gas station off the Stockertown exit “where they were informed nothing will be open because it’s Good Friday.” But an investigator for Progressive Insurance, with which the suspect filed his claim, checked the Stockertown area and learned that service stations and garages actually were open on Good Friday.

• Palomares told police that after leaving the Shell station, he returned to where he had left his truck, boat and trailer and found they were gone.

• He said the 2010 Dodge Ram truck was valued at $48,000; the 21 ½-foot white Maxum boat, a 2001 model, was valued at $11,000; the 2001 Maxum trailer was valued at $1,100; two new truck tires were valued at $800, and $300 in cash also was taken. Total value -- $61,200.

• Police filed a court order July 7 to get Palomares’ cell phone records and received the information on July 27. An arrest warrant was approved Nov. 22 and he was taken into custody Wednesday. While police and insurance officials could not reach the suspect in the months after the incident, police interviewed his friend three times.

In addition to insurance fraud, Palomares was charged with unsworn falsification to authorities and false reports to law enforcement authorities. He was arraigned by District Judge Jackie Taschner of Palmer Township and released on $35,000 bail.