Georgia Insurance Commissioner’s Office investigates troopers’ PIT maneuver payouts

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - Georgia’s Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) has opened an investigation into the state patrol’s ‘PIT for Pay’ scandal, exposed by WTOC Investigates.

A spokesperson for the OCI, reached by phone, confirmed the investigation.

WTOC first reported in April that four Georgia State Patrol troopers were fired after cashing in on personal injury claims against drivers they had PIT maneuvered, meaning they intentionally crashed into them to end a chase. Three of the troopers made almost $100,000 from the claims, and a fourth was fired for failing to report the practice and trying to cash in himself.

In one of the chases, a trooper PIT maneuvered a car and received $25,000 from the owner’s insurance company. But the owner, Latesha Banks, wasn’t driving. She wasn’t even inside the vehicle.

Now, her insurance rates are high, and she said she feels punished for something even the trooper who sued her said wasn’t her fault.

The crash

Dashcam video from 2024 shows now-former GSP Trooper Hunter Waters’ patrol car during the PIT crash that Banks said she’s been paying for ever since.

Banks owned the car, but she was standing outside work when it happened. Banks’ friend was driving the car when the chase ended in the parking lot of Walmart, where Banks worked.

Waters approached her after the crash.

“I seen my vehicle come in and then I seen two police cars that were behind. One car had clipped the car. It spun and hit a light pole that was in the parking lot,” Banks said.

Caesar Thompkins is listed as the driver on the crash report, and Banks is listed as the owner of the Kia he was driving. The report doesn’t list any injuries, including to Waters.

But months later, Waters’ attorney, Tina Maddox, sent GEICO a demand letter, obtained by WTOC Investigates, seeking the $25,000 policy limit from Banks’ insurance. The letter said Waters did not seek medical treatment but claimed body aches, soreness and anxiety. Dashcam video from the crash also captured Waters telling a coworker he was okay.

That night, Waters apologized to Banks and told her she was not at fault.

“I mean, well obviously, you’re not at fault. That goes without saying,” Waters said on dashcam video.

The settlement

Banks said she wasn’t aware the trooper involved in the crash had sued her insurance company until WTOC Investigates contacted her.

“To know that you have someone that’s supposed to protect and serve you to go behind your back and do something like this, I was devastated,” Banks said.

A release document obtained by WTOC Investigates shows Waters did receive $25,000 from GEICO tied to this crash.

In an internal interview with Department of Public Safety investigators earlier this year, Waters said this crash was not the only one he sent to Maddox’s office.

“I’d say at least seven, eight,” Waters said.

Waters said he settled three claims for $25,000 each.

Three other troopers — Joseph Curlee, Isaiah Francois and Tyler Byrd — also sent crash reports to Maddox, with the troopers collectively making almost $100,000. The troopers told investigators Maddox took a third of each settlement.

Maddox hasn’t responded to WTOC Investigates’ requests for comment for months. When asked directly about the case, she declined to comment, and threatened legal action against us for asking questions.

“I don’t speak about cases that belong to my clients. That is a violation of the attorney/client privilege. And I would appreciate you leaving me alone. Or I will get a restraining order,” Maddox said.

The aftermath

The four troopers involved in the scandal were all fired from GSP. After WTOC Investigates exposed it earlier this year, the Georgia Insurance Commissioner’s Office opened an investigation.

While Waters netted around $16,000 from the crash, Banks said she was without a car for five months. When she finally got another vehicle, her premiums went up.

“Even though I wasn’t the one that was responsible for it, my premiums had went up because of it,” Banks said.

She is now insured through another company but said the higher cost is still affecting her finances.

“You know, it’s hard, because now I have to pay more for my car, something that I do need. And it takes away from other things that I had planned for,” Banks said.

Dr. Robert Hoyt, the chair of insurance at UGA’s Terry College of Business, said it’s not unreasonable that a claim like the one against Banks could be affecting her insurance costs now.

“If there’s been serious claim activity, that can absolutely result in increases in costs to a particular consumer,” Hoyt said.

He said questionable or fraudulent claims do not just affect the people directly involved.

“These types of additional costs are getting passed through the system. And you and I and every other consumer of insurance is ultimately footing the bill for that,” Hoyt said.

While the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance investigates, Banks is pleading for justice after being punished, she said, for something out of her hands.

“I would like for the money to be returned. I would like for my premiums to go back down. I’m being held responsible for someone else’s actions,” Banks said.

There were multiple insurance companies that paid out settlements to the GSP troopers. Many of them declined to comment on the situation, but Georgia Farm Bureau said it is exploring its legal options.

None of the troopers that were fired have faced criminal charges. DPS previously said the troopers involved were fired for violating department policy and ethical standards.