Woman arrested in fraud raid: 'I don't know what the (expletive) happened'

ATLANTA — Police say they arrested eight people Tuesday on suspicion of insurance fraud and forgery in Atlanta.

Channel 2 Action News was the only news station there as officers swarmed a home in Loganville Tuesday morning. That home was just one of the raids in seven cities that led to the arrests.

Channel 2's Audrey Washington spoke with one suspect, a 20-year-old woman, as she was being arrested and escorted out of the home to a police car.

Treojour Thomas answered to door to police early Tuesday morning. Police said she and her boyfriend, Steven Folkes, 25, got in an accident and submitted fraudulent medical bills and work documents to get money off of a claim.

"I don't know what the (expletive) happened," Thomas said. "Why is Channel 2 News here?"

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Thomas is one of eight people investigators rounded up and took to jail on Tuesday. The eight suspects are now facing 22 various felony charges in total.

Billy Sullivan, the director of the criminal investigations division at the Georgia Insurance Commissioner's Office, told Washington he spent the most time trying to track down one suspect in particular.

Sullivan said Steven Eric Chastain, 56, was a public adjuster wanted for stealing a $240,000 claim from an elderly woman whose home burned down.

Chastain has now been charged with theft by deception.

Sullivan's office also arrested three men who were part of a ring that would take VIN numbers on cars.

Investigators said in total, they now have 20 people in custody. They are still looking for five other suspects who all face 25 felony charges.

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