FORMER POLICE OFFICER CAUGHT DRINKING AND DANCING WHILE CLAIMING HEAD INJURY

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
A former Westminster police officer, was caught drinking and dancing
at Stagecoach Music Festival while claiming a head injury prevented
her from working. Charged with fifty she was charged with
fifteen felonies for committing workers' compensation insurance fraud. She stole
more than six hundred thousand dollars from taxpayers. She again

(00:24):
she stole more than six hundred thousand dollars and she
was drinking at the Stagecoach Country Music Festival. She had
been skiing before, running five k races and going to Disneyland,
all while claiming to be completely disabled due to a
head injury she said she suffered while handcovering a suspect.
A former officers stepfather was a license attorney who practices

(00:46):
workers' cop defense on behalf of insurance companies. Has also
been charged with two felonies for conspiring with his stepdaughter
to orchestrate the fraudulent workers' compensation scheme. Nicole Brown, thirty nine,
of Riverside, has been charged with nine felony accounts of
making a fraudulent statement to obtain compensation, six felony accounts
of making a fraudulent insurance benefit claim, and one felony

(01:07):
enhancement of committing an aggravated why call the crime over
one hundred thousand dollars. Brown's stepfather, Peter Schuman, fifty seven,
has been charged with one felony account of making a
fraudulent insurance benefit claim and another one for assisting in
the bedding as an attorney of licensed by the state.
He may also suffer a discipline by the state barb California.
I'm not surprised if he doesn't get barked. March twenty first,

(01:30):
twenty twenty two, Brown was employed as an officer with
the Westminster Police Department when she suffered a minor abrasion
to her forehead while attempting to arrest and handcuff and
uncooperative suspect. She complained to her watch commander that she
had a headache and was feeling dizzy, but an emergency
room doctor who examined her that same day released her
back to work without restrictions. After calling out sick for
several days. On March thirtieth, Brown was diagnosed with severe

(01:52):
concussion syndrome was taken off work by the doctor in
place on total temporary disability. When police officers are injured.
On the job and unable to work, they may be
maybe entitled to total work total temporary disability benefits under
the workers compensation system. The officer is temporarily disabled due
to a work relate injury, the officer will receive their

(02:13):
full salary, not just a percent percentage, but up to
a year. The full salary of the officer for the
first year is paid by the city, county, or state
agency that employs them. If the officer is still temporarily
disabled after one year, then they then transition to regular
workers' comp benefits and are paid two thirds of their
over average weekly rage, subject to a statewide maximum, and

(02:33):
these can last up to a five year period. While
out on temporary disability, Brown cost the City of Westminster
more than six hundred thousand dollars, which included her full salary,
tax free, and her medical expenses. During her time on
temporary disability, browns ongoing complaints for headaches, dizziness, sensitivity to
light and noise, and problems processing thoughts and words. Despite

(02:55):
her representations to doctors in the City of Westminster regarding
her inability to work as a police officer due to
her injury, Brown was seen by several people who knew
she was off work on total disability, as she was
dancing and drinking at the Stagecoach Music Festival with loud
music and bright lights. Her behavior was reported to the
Westminster the Police Department, which was then reported to the
Orange County DA's office. Three days after the festival, Brown

(03:19):
attended an Interactive Process ZOOM meeting to discuss what duties
she could perform as an officer. Brown stepfather, Peter Schuman,
attended the meeting and advocated for Brown. During the meeting,
Brown claimed she was unable to look at the screen.
Brown was sitting in a dark room. Schumann did all
the talking for Brown with respect to what she could
or could not do instate of She was unable to
do paperwork and was uncertain that she could do phone

(03:39):
calls due to her inability to process words or thoughts,
so they were claiming a TBI. The investigation found that
three days after the injury, when she called out sick,
Brown went to an AYSO Soccer conference in San Diego,
where she attended multiple sessions where PowerPoint presentations were utilized,
as well as running two five k race snowboarding in

(04:01):
Big Bear and Mammoth, and then went to three AYSO
soccer conferences, attended baseball games, play golf, went to Disneyland,
and took online courses with a local university. If convicted
of a felony, she will forfeit all pension credits she
will accrued back to the date the felony was committed