Caraway was charged with forgery, first-degree attempted theft, filing a false insurance claim and making a false statement on a vehicle application certificate of title. The charges were first reported by the Tri-City Herald in Washington.
Caraway and Tate were not immediately reachable for comment.
Insurance commissioner Mike Kreidler had actually placed Caraway on the top-five most wanted list until the veteran fighter reached out to schedule an arraignment hearing on March 11.
“According to the investigation, Caraway reported the theft of a 2015 Polaris RZR all-terrain vehicle from his property in Richland in December 2018,” the insurance commission wrote in a statement released this week. “He bought a policy for it from GEICO on Dec. 21 and filed the claim on Dec. 24. He told GEICO that he bought the vehicle and contents, including helmets, a battery charger and spare tire, for $18,500 and provided a title showing his ex-girlfriend gifted it to him in January 2018.
“The investigation showed evidence that Caraway forged the title and that the vehicle was not in fact stolen but was owned by and in possession of the ex-girlfriend. Caraway withdrew the claim and GEICO referred the case to Kreidler’s CIU (criminal investigation unit) as required by state law.”
Per the initial report, Caraway is also under investigation for grand larceny in Nevada for allegedly stealing the ATV from Tate’s residence in Las Vegas on two separate occasions. According to online court records in Nevada, he was charged in June 2019 with grand larceny and possession of a stolen vehicle – both felonies due to the value of the vehicle – and a gross misdemeanor charge of conspiracy grand larceny. The charges were dismissed this past November.
The Washington case initially came under investigation after Caraway called Richland police on Dec. 24 to report the ATV was stolen and he filed a claim with his insurance company on a policy that had just been purchased just days earlier.
He later explained to investigators that after his relationship with Tate ended in 2017, she gave him the ATV and the vehicle had been in his name since January 2018.
Tate countered Caraway’s claims by telling authorities that she never gave her ex-boyfriend the vehicle and believed he had actually forged her name on the title in order to transfer it into his name. Tate apparently withdrew the insurance claim while telling the investigator that Caraway allegedly wanted to “strangle” her over the ordeal while saying he would just steal the vehicle back from her again.
Once police were involved, the investigation revealed that Caraway had filed a vehicle title application, a bill of sale with Tate’s signature forged on the document, a forged title from Nevada and a certificate of fact that was also falsified. The title was issued but eventually cancelled.
Las Vegas police then told the investigating officer from Washington that Caraway was under suspicion of theft after he allegedly went to Tate’s home in February 2019 and stole the ATV. Caraway then returned two weeks later and allegedly stole the same vehicle again, all of which was apparently captured on surveillance video.
Tate gave Las Vegas police a copy of a text message conversation with Caraway from the night of the second theft where he allegedly told her he stole the ATV as well as forged her name on documents for the title transfer.
Caraway last fought in the UFC in 2018 where he suffered his second straight loss before parting ways with the promotion. He has competed only once since then with a win over Raja Shippen at Battlefield FC 2 in July 2019.
The charges against Caraway come with potential fines and jail time if he’s found guilty. Caraway’s brother, Thomas J. Caraway, was charged by state prosecutors on the same day in a separate case where he allegedly claimed a vehicle was stolen and received insurance payments for a rental car and property he claimed was stolen, per the Tri-City Herald report. He has been charged with first-degree theft, forgery, making a false statement on a vehicle application certificate of title and false claims of proof in excess of $1,500.
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