A 19-year-old former pizza delivery driver will appear in court next month after being accused of lying to his insurance company.

Ryan Ortz, of Jefferson Township, is scheduled for a preliminary hearing at 10:30 a.m. March 29 before District Judge William Fullerton for felony charges of insurance fraud.

The Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General on Jan. 26 arrested and charged Ortz, who was released later that day on his own recognizance.

According to charging documents, Ortz rear-ended another driver around 7 p.m. near the Butler Post Office on South Main Street Sept. 30. The documents state Ortz was driving a 2007 Chevy Malibu, and the woman driving the other vehicle was in a 2020 Ford Escape, borrowed from Shults Ford in Wexford, where her car was getting work done.

The documents state a Butler County 911 dispatch report confirmed the Escape's driver called 911 about the accident, but police did not respond because it was not a reportable one.

The Escape's driver filed a claim the following day.

Ortz allegedly told his provider, Progressive Insurance, he was on his way to work. However, investigators claim Ortz was on the job at the time, which changes the coverage of the accident under his policy.

Investigators said they confirmed through the restaurant's time card records that Ortz punched in at 3 p.m. and punched out at 10 p.m. the day of the accident.

According to the documents, investigators later interviewed the woman driving the Escape, who provided text messages from Ortz asking if she could leave his workplace out of the report.

Ortz “had a Pizza Hut sign or light on his vehicle at the time of the accident,” the documents stated.

According to the documents, the car dealer estimated the damage to the borrowed vehicle at more than $6,000, and the woman driving it had to pay the $500 deductible because Ortz's insurance would not cover the claim.

The documents said after gathering further evidence, investigators again interviewed Ortz, who admitted to being at fault for the accident and “admitted that he was working as a delivery driver for Pizza Hut at the time of the accident and that he had lied to Progressive Insurance,” the documents said.