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U.S.|An Officer Said She Was Disabled. Prosecutors Said She Ran, Skied and Danced.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/22/us/officer-partying-fake-injury.html
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Prosecutors said that Nicole Brown, 39, of the Westminster Police Department in California, falsely said that she wasn’t able to work, receiving her salary and benefits while engaging in strenuous activities.
May 22, 2025, 7:28 p.m. ET
Nicole Brown, a police officer in Orange County, Calif., 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 $600,000 in workers’ compensation.
This week, Ms. 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, Calif., was charged with two felonies charging him with conspiring with Ms. Brown. He is a lawyer who specializes in defending employers and insurance companies against workers’ compensation claims.
Ms 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, Brian Gurwitz, said on Thursday that Ms. Brown’s on-duty injury “continues to cause her severe limitations in her daily life.”
