Clock doesn’t lie, but Tacoma man does on insurance claim about when accident happened

Andrew Borneman ran out of gas about 11 a.m. Aug. 11, 2014.

He ran out of luck shortly thereafter.

On that summer day, the Tacoma man was driving a 1972 Chevrolet he’d just finished fixing up to the Fred Meyer at 17404 Meridian E., South Hill, to fuel up.

But he ran out of gas in the left turn lane on 176th Avenue across the street. A bystander helped him push the truck through the intersection.

As the pickup gained speed, Borneman hopped into the cab. But he couldn’t control the truck as it ran over the curb and plowed into a Hyundai, which then ran into a Subaru SUV.

Minutes after the accident — by 11:52 a.m. — Borneman’s wife added the truck to an Esurance insurance policy.

But it was too late. The $19,000 in damages had already been done.

Nevertheless, Borneman told Esurance the accident happened at 1 p.m.

But the store employee who owned the Hyundai had clocked out of work at 11:30 a.m. to deal with the incident, her time card showed.

The customer who owned the Subaru didn’t know of the damage until he got to his car in the parking lot. His receipt showed he left the store after 11:40 a.m.

That landed Borneman in court, where he pleaded guilty March 22 in Pierce County Superior Court to charges of attempted presenting false insurance claims and attempted first-degree theft.

He was sentenced to 364 days in suspended jail time, two years of probation and a $700 fine.

He also must pay nearly $19,000 in restitution to the insurance companies that covered the Hyundai and Subaru.

This story was originally published March 30, 2016 at 11:44 AM with the headline "Clock doesn’t lie, but Tacoma man does on insurance claim about when accident happened."