Judgment withheld in fake fender bender claim

A woman who claimed back and shoulder injuries from a fender bender almost five years ago was fined $5,000 this week for attempting to defraud an insurance company after a jury found she wasn’t in the car when the crash occurred.

Ximena McKenna, 45, was not a passenger in a BMW SUV when her teenage daughter was rear-ended by a 1999 GMC Sierra pickup on Nov. 10, 2015. However, McKenna told police and insurance investigators she was a front-seat passenger and racked up a bill for chiropractic and massage services.

McKenna did not have a criminal record before being found guilty of two felonies, and she apologized to the court Monday for having lied about her injuries.

Because her daughter had a learner’s permit at the time of the crash and no driver’s license, McKenna told police she was inside the BMW when it was rear-ended at an intersection on Kathleen Avenue, to prevent her daughter from receiving a traffic citation.

The driver of the pickup, Sydney Bybee, a Coeur d’Alene High junior at the time, said she was momentarily distracted when she smacked into the SUV.

“I looked in the rear-view mirror and was distracted and hit the car in front of me that was stopped,” Bybee said. “I admitted fault, I felt horrible. I was willing to pay for any harm that I did.”

McKenna told her insurance carrier that she was injured in the accident. She told representatives from Nationwide insurance, which covered the GMC, that her back and shoulder had been injured.

When investigators contested McKenna’s presence at the crash a couple of months later, she withdrew her claim. She had her attorney draft a letter to explain the matter, though by then McKenna had twice visited a Post Falls chiropractor for injuries represented as sustained in the crash.

“This was a charade for the insurance company,” prosecutor Jessica Cafferty said.

Cafferty asked the court for a suspended five-year prison sentence with 45 days of local jail time.

Coeur d’Alene attorney John Redal, who represents McKenna, said jail wasn’t the best solution. He asked for a withheld judgment because of his client’s lack of a criminal history. First District Judge Scott Wayman agreed.

“You were not honest, you hurt your daughter, you lied,” Wayman said.

The judge ordered a withheld judgment, which will show up in the court record as a dismissed charge once McKenna completes 100 hours of community service, two years probation and pays $5,180 in fines, fees and court costs.