An ex-cop in California collected $600,000 on full disability leave, all while living an active lifestyle that included multiple ski trips, a vacation to Disneyland, pursuing an advanced degree and partying at a music festival, prosecutors alleged.
Nicole Brown, 39, suffered a minor head abrasion during an arrest in 2022 and used the injury to take a several-year-long leave while partying it up — and now faces 15 felony charges for an alleged fraudulent workers’ compensation scheme, according to a release from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
While supposedly suffering from “post-concussion syndrome,” the former Westminster Police Department cop was spotted drinking and partying at Stagecoach music festival, prosecutors said.
Yet in a Zoom meeting about her health three days after the festival, Brown had the gall to appear on camera in a darkened room and told Westminster Police officials she was unable to look at the screen without discomfort, according to the DA.
During the heisted holiday, Brown also went to Disneyland, ran two 5K races, went to Big Bear and Mammoth mountains for skiing or snowboarding, attended several youth soccer conferences, and went to baseball games, prosecutors said.
She also pursued an online master’s degree in organizational leadership at a local university, according to ABC.
Brown collected the hefty $600,000 through her full, tax-free salary in addition to her medical expenses, according to the DA’s office.
She could face up to 22 years behind bars for the alleged fraud.
The 39-year-old had help concocting the alleged scheme from her stepfather, Peter Gregory Schuman, an attorney who practices in workers’ compensation, the DA’s office said.
Schuman, 57, “did all the talking” for Brown in meetings with Westminster PD officials and oversaw his stepdaughter’s admission into an inpatient center for individuals with traumatic brain injuries, prosecutors said.
Schuman is charged with two felonies linked to the alleged scheme that carry a maximum of eight years in state prison, the release stated. He could also lose his license to practice law.
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