Officer Allegedly Caught Partying at Stagecoach Whereas Gathering $600k in Incapacity

A California police officer is dealing with 15 felony expenses and as much as 22 years in jail after being accused of alleged employees’ compensation insurance coverage fraud and stealing greater than $600k from taxpayers. 

Nicole Brown, previously of the Westminster Police Department, suffered a head damage in 2022 whereas making an attempt to handcuff a suspect and was later positioned on incapacity.

In response to a Might 20 press release from the Workplace of the District Lawyer of Orange County, Brown, 39, “complained to her watch commander that she had a headache and was feeling dizzy, however an emergency room physician who examined her that very same day launched her again to work with out restrictions.”

A number of days after the incident, Brown referred to as in sick to work a number of days in a row and was later recognized with extreme concussion syndrome and was positioned on Complete Momentary Incapacity, in response to the discharge. 

Officers who obtain a job-related damage are entitled to their full wage for as much as a yr along with any medical charges. The district legal professional’s workplace claims that Brown price Westminster greater than $600,000 in tax payer cash throughout her time on incapacity. 

Whereas on her incapacity, Brown complained of “complications, dizziness, sensitivity to mild and noise, issues processing ideas and phrases and an incapacity to work on the pc or do any screentime,” the discharge claims. 

Nonetheless, an investigation alleged that whereas on incapacity, Brown was witnessed consuming and partying on the Stagecoach Music Pageant in April 2023, regardless of the loud, crowded atmosphere with temperatures over 100 levels. 

She was additionally alleged to have gone to Disneyland, attended three AYSO soccer conferences, went snowboarding or snowboarding in Large Bear and Mammoth, ran two 5k races, performed golf, took on-line programs with a college and attended baseball video games. 

Brown’s stepfather Peter Schuman, who’s a licensed legal professional in California, has additionally been charged after being accused of aiding her in committing fraud by advocating on her behalf throughout a gathering to debate what police duties she might carry out. The assembly occurred three days after the Stagecoach Music Pageant. In the course of the assembly, Brown allegedly “claimed she was unable to take a look at the display” and was “sitting in a darkish room” with Schuman talking on her behalf, the discharge provides.

Schuman, 57, has been charged with one felony depend of creating a fraudulent insurance coverage profit declare and one felony depend of aiding, abetting, conspiring with and soliciting an individual in illegal act. Schuman is dealing with a most sentence of eight years in jail and will “undergo self-discipline by the State Bar of California,” in response to the district legal professional.

Brown has been charged with 9 felony counts of creating a fraudulent assertion to acquire compensation, six felony counts of creating a fraudulent insurance coverage profit declare and one felony enhancement of committing an aggravated white collar crime over $100,000. If convicted on all counts, Brown might withstand 22 years in jail. 

PEOPLE has reached out to the Workplace of the District Lawyer for updates on the case. 

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Previous to her depart, Brown served as a Homeless Liaison Officer in Westminster. 

“I simply don’t suppose that anybody is hopeless,” Brown instructed the location Behind the Badge in 2020. “This isn’t the prettiest job, coping with the homeless. You may get somebody off the streets and so they may return to the streets and it’s that cycle. However to truly be capable to make an impression on somebody’s life for the higher is why I wished this place.”

On the time, Brown’s associate Roland Perez stated of her, “She has compassion. She is all about notes. Every part is organized. She retains me centered.”