A Rochester man has been charged locally for insurance fraud, related to a claim made for his utility terrain vehicle last year.

According to charges filed last week, Kenneth G. Heasley, 34, of Rochester, was charged with felonies of insurance fraud and attempted theft by deception. The Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office filed the charges.

Following Heasley's arraignment by District Judge David Kovach, he was released on his own recognizance.

According to charging documents, investigators received a referral from a Progressive Insurance agent about Heasley's claim in October 2020 for his wrecked UTV that resulted in the alleged attempted theft of $11,760.

“(Heasley) filed a claim for damage to his 2018 Yamaha utility terrain vehicle (UTV) while recreational trail riding,” said the lead investigator in the affidavit. “The investigation revealed that (Heasley) was involved in organized racing with his UTV, which is an exclusion under his Progressive policy, at time of loss.”

The insurance agent said Heasley increased his policy from $3,000 to $18,000 on Oct. 14, 2020, two weeks before he filed a collision claim for damage to the UTV. Investigators said Heasley filed the claim while at work in Cranberry Township.

Investigators said when they spoke with Heasley the first time, he told them he had been riding on a trail. He said he either hit a stump or the rock and rolled the vehicle.

Investigators said an insurance employee then found a video on Heasley's Facebook page showing him crashing the UTV. The video was also associated with a Facebook page for Mudlark Racing.

Investigators said they spoke with race organizers, who said Heasley wrecked the UTV at the race. On the race group's Facebook post, it showed the video along with a caption.

“Not how he expected to end the last race. Ken is OK! Finished the season with the championship for modified and turbo class. And second in stock,” the post said.

When confronted about the video, Heasley told investigators he had informed Progressive that he planned to race with the UTV.

Investigators said regardless, racing the vehicle would have been excluded from the policy.

When confronted later, Heasley said he had an incident while trail riding, but there was also damage from the racing crash.

“(Heasley) admitted that the major damage was caused when he wrecked the UTV when involved in an organized racing event on a closed race track,” investigators said.

A preliminary hearing for Heasley is scheduled for Dec. 17 before Kovach.