Background: The area of the crash in Harris County, Texas (KTRK/YouTube). Inset: Pedro Cura (Harris County Constable Precinct 4).
A man was jailed in Texas after authorities say he showed up at the scene of a car crash wearing a green vest and pretending to be an attorney.
Pedro Guajardo Cura, 53, has been charged with barratry, defined as "the act of encouraging lawsuits between others in order to create legal business for one's personal gain and profit." Those who engage in barratry are also sometimes known derisively as "ambulance chasers."
Cura, however, was apparently not an attorney.
According to the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable's Office, its deputies responded Saturday to a "major accident" in the 500 block of North Sam Houston Parkway West, which is located just north of downtown Houston. The law enforcement officers were investigating the crash when they encountered Cura, "who was engaging in unlawful solicitation of business from individuals involved in the accident at the active crash scene."
Cura had been offering to help one of the drivers with their case and had photographed the damaged vehicles, per court records reviewed by area ABC affiliate KTRK. The defendant was reportedly wearing a green vest with his phone number on it and offering his services despite not being a licensed attorney and having nothing to do with the crash.
Cura was arrested and booked into the Harris County Jail. His bond was set at $10,000.
During Cura's initial hearing, the magistrate told him that there is "a real danger in this type of behavior because you're talking to people who have just been in an accident and in a vulnerable state," adding that the people involved were speaking Spanish and could have been particularly reliant on someone offering help.
"Claiming you have legal knowledge and can help somebody is illegal because there is a specific level of trust that is conferred upon people of authority, which includes lawyers," the magistrate said, per KTRK. "In other words, this entire situation is fraud."
Constable Mark Herman chastised Cura for allegedly taking advantage of the people involved in the crash.
"Accident victims should never be pressured or taken advantage of during an already stressful situation. Our deputies will continue enforcing the law and protecting those involved in traffic accidents from unlawful solicitation," Herman said.