WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ala. (WKRG) — A Washington County grand jury indicted a man Wednesday in an 2022 insurance fraud case involving a Hummer, court documents show. 

Bruce Parnell is charged with first-degree insurance fraud and is being held on a $30,000 bond in the Washington County Jail. 

A 2006 Hummer H2 that was buried behind a barn off a dirt road in the Tibbie community seven years ago was dug up a put in an Washington county impound lot in April 11, 2022. Parnell reported it stolen in 2016 and made 16 insurance claims through out the years.

“A vehicle that was reported stolen and some insurance fraud being related, finding the vehicle buried underground, that’s a first for me,” said investigator Blake Richardson at the time of the discovery.

The indictment states Parnell did “intentionally and knowingly commit an act” and “caused a loss or potential loss that exceeds one thousand dollars.”

A few days later on April 18, Parnell was arrested.

Investigators testified during a preliminary hearing last May that Parnell told a friend he was going to make the Hummer disappear and not to ask any questions. But Parnell’s attorney said at the time, Parnell couldn’t have buried the Hummer because he was in Mobile when it was stolen.

The judge, in this case, has issued a gag order so no one involved in the case is allowed to talk about it.

Insurance fraud in the first degree is a class B felony that carries a two to 20-year sentence if convicted and as much as a 30-thousand-dollar fine.

According to court documents, Eugene “fraudulently reported” his Hummer stolen and “received a check in the amount of $10,225.05.”