Crash Course: 411-PAIN network will not line their pockets with your insurance money
Josh Smith is built like a jockey, so thin, he's almost concave, with a shaved head and delicate features that belie the punishment his body has endured. Four years ago, he served in a U.S. Army infantry unit in Iraq, where he survived an IED attack on his Humvee unscathed.
Robert Lewin has grown the 411-PAIN network to include 130 chiropractors in five states.
Originally from Trinidad, the 22-year-old now earns his paychecks lifting boxes in a Target storeroom at Sawgrass Mills in Sunrise. "I'm used to my body being sore," he says. "I know what it feels like, my body being injured." His voice is soft and submissive, as if war had never been part of his vocabulary.
Last June 16, in the sweltering center of a summer afternoon, Sohan headed to the beach. His friend Bryan Rodriguez was in the passenger seat. Rodriguez, 23, is the more imposing of the two men. A Puerto Rican native with dreadlocks and tattoos on his hands, he's bounced around from a retail job to construction and washing cars.
Traffic stalled at the drawbridge just before the beach on East Sunrise Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale. Without warning, a Ford truck rammed into them from behind. Sohan jolted forward, one hand gripping the wheel, the other glued to the stick shift.
The truck driver offered Sohan and Rodriguez cash, but they called the police instead. When a Fort Lauderdale cop arrived, the truck driver admitted he hadn't stopped in time. He said his insurance would pay for the dents and scratches to Sohan's Mitsubishi.
Crash Course: 411-PAIN network will not line their pockets with your insurance money
A model with sculpted biceps and milk-chocolate skin appears on the TV screen dressed in a navy-blue police uniform. Standing by an open car hood, he speaks with friendly authority.
"I arrive at all types of accidents — auto, motorcycle, slip-and-fall, and work injuries," he begins. "And I always tell everyone to call 411-PAIN. According to Florida Law, you may be entitled to a minimum of $10,000 in injury protection and lost wages, whether you're at fault or not.
"Remember, after 911, call 411."