An officer said she was disabled but prosecutors said she ran, skied and danced
An officer said she was disabled but prosecutors said she ran, skied and danced
CALIFORNIA - Nicole Brown, a police officer in Orange County, California, told her bosses in 2022 that she could no longer perform her duties after she sustained a head injury on the job.
But according to prosecutors, whatever had happened to her didn't prevent her from running in road races, skiing or snowboarding, and dancing at a music festival while she illegally collected more than US$600,000 (S$775,000) in workers' compensation.
This week, Brown, 39, who worked for the Westminster Police Department, was charged with 15 felonies related to workers' compensation insurance fraud, according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office.
Her stepfather, Peter Gregory Schuman, 57, of Buena Park, California, was charged with two felonies charging him with conspiring with Brown. He is a lawyer who specialises in defending employers and insurance companies against workers' compensation claims.
Brown was charged with nine felony counts of making a fraudulent statement to obtain compensation; six felony counts of making a fraudulent insurance benefit claim; and one felony enhancement of committing an aggravated white-collar crime worth over $100,000, court records show.
Her lawyer, Mr Brian Gurwitz, said on May 22 that Brown's on-duty injury 'continues to cause her severe limitations in her daily life'.
'She intends to defend against these charges vigorously in court,' he said.
Schuman was charged with one felony count of making a fraudulent insurance benefit claim and one felony count of assisting, abetting, conspiring with and soliciting a person in unlawful act, records show. It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer, and he did not immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment.
Brown was sworn in as a police officer in early 2019. About three years later, in March 2022, she suffered a 'minor abrasion to her forehead while attempting to arrest and handcuff an uncooperative suspect,' prosecutors said.
She complained to her commander that she had a headache and was feeling dizzy, but an emergency room doctor who examined her that day released her and said that she could return to work without restrictions, prosecutors said. After she called out sick for several days, they added, Brown was given a diagnosis of severe concussion syndrome and placed on temporary disability leave.
An investigation by the district attorney's office found that three days after the injury, in March 2022, when Brown – who volunteered as a youth soccer coach – had called out sick, she went to an American Youth Soccer Organisation conference in San Diego. Prosectors noted that she had attended multiple sessions that featured PowerPoint presentations.
While she was out for the next year, prosecutors said, Brown fraudulently collected the compensation payments from the city. That included her full salary, which was tax-free, and all medical expenses.
During her leave, Brown said that it was physically impossible for her to do her work because of headaches, dizziness, sensitivity to light and noise, an inability to work on a screen, and problems processing thoughts and words, according to prosecutors.
But several people who knew she was on disability leave spotted her dancing and drinking on April 29, 2023, at the Stagecoach Music Festival, a country music celebration, prosecutors said.
The festival, held in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert region of Southern California, attracted about 75,000 people. It was a carnival-type atmosphere with plenty of loud music and bright lights, and temperatures hovering close to or above 100 deg Fahrenheit (37.7 deg C), prosecutors said.
Someone reported the fact that she had attended the festival to the Westminster Police Department. It referred the matter to the district attorney's office, which opened the investigation.
When Brown took part in a Police Department Zoom meeting three days after the festival to discuss what duties she could perform as a police officer, she said that she was unable to look at the screen, prosecutors said, adding that Schuman was also on the call to speak on her behalf.
Schuman said in the meeting that Brown could not to do paperwork and that he was uncertain that she could handle phone calls because of her inability to process words or thoughts, authorities said. Later, Brown was admitted to an inpatient center for individuals who have a traumatic brain injury, they said.
The inquiry into Brown also found that while out on disability, she ran in two 5km races and went snowboarding or skiing in Big Bear and Mammoth, two popular Southern California ski resorts, prosecutors said.
She also is accused of going to more youth soccer conferences, attending baseball games, playing golf, visiting Disneyland and taking online courses, according to the investigation.
Brown could face up to 22 years in prison and a loss of some of her pension if convicted of all charges. Schuman could face up to eight years in state prison and could be disciplined by the State Bar of California if convicted. NYTIMES
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