California cop was partying at festival while collecting $600,000 for fake injury, officials say

LOS ANGELES -- A Southern California constabulary serviceman was caught partying astatine the Stagecoach Music Festival portion collecting much than $600,000 successful workers' compensation for a caput wounded that prosecutors allege was faked.

Westminster serviceman Nicole Brown, 39, was charged Monday with 15 felonies of workers' compensation and security fraud, the Orange County District Attorney's bureau said. She faces up to 22 years successful situation if convicted.

Brown was connected the occupation March 21, 2022, erstwhile she received a “minor abrasion” to her forehead portion trying to apprehension an uncooperative suspect, according to prosecutors. She told her ticker commandant that she had a headache and was feeling dizzy.

Though an exigency country doc who examined her that time released her backmost to enactment without restrictions, she called retired sick for respective days and was diagnosed with a terrible concussion astir a week aft the archetypal injury. She was placed connected Total Temporary Disability, which made her eligible to person her afloat wage for up to a twelvemonth and two-thirds of her wage aft that.

Later, investigators would find retired that during the 3 days she called retired sick aft her injury, Brown went to respective shot conferences successful San Diego. In the pursuing twelvemonth portion collecting disability, she besides ran successful 2 5K races, went snowboarding oregon skiing successful Big Bear and Mammoth, attended shot games, played golf, went to Disneyland and took online courses with a section university, prosecutors allege.

“Mrs. Brown suffered a important caput wounded erstwhile she was connected duty,” her lawyer Brian Gurwitz said, “and she intends to vigorously combat these allegations.”

According to prosecutors, immoderate of Brown's ongoing symptoms that she reported during this clip were: headaches, dizziness, sensitivity to airy and noise, and inability to look astatine a screen.

The territory attorney's bureau began their probe into imaginable fraud aft she was seen by respective radical “dancing and drinking" successful April 2023 astatine the Stagecoach Music Festival, an yearly state euphony festival held successful the Coachella Valley with “loud euphony and agleam lights everywhere." This was reported to the Westminster Police Department.

Three days aft the festival, Brown and her stepfather attended a Zoom gathering wherever she sat successful a acheronian country and said she was incapable to look astatine the screen. Her stepfather said she inactive could not bash paperwork oregon instrumentality telephone calls. After the meeting, she was admitted to an inpatient halfway for traumatic encephalon injury.

Prosecutors accidental Brown collected much than $600,000 from the metropolis of Westminster, which includes her afloat wage and aesculapian expenses.

Her stepfather Peter Schuman, 57, of Buena Park, has besides been charged with 2 felonies related to security fraud and helping perpetrate a crime. He is simply a licensed lawyer successful California and faces subject from the authorities bar, prosecutors said. Schuman does not person an lawyer listed and could not beryllium reached for comment.

Brown was sworn into the Westminster Police Department successful February 2019, according to Behind the Badge, a work reporting connected instrumentality enforcement quality successful California.