In the spring of 2023, a California police officer who claimed she suffered debilitating injuries on the job appeared in a Zoom call to discuss her employment. The room she was in was darkened and she neither spoke nor looked at the camera, say prosecutors, who said her lawyer joined the meeting and said she was incapable of doing paperwork. But prosecutors say that only three days prior, former Westminster cop Nicole Brown was at the Stagecoach music festival, dancing and drinking in the company of 75,000 other people as temps surged past 100 degrees. The 39-year-old—who collected more than $600,000 tax-free in workers' comp while on leave following her alleged head injury—has now been charged with 15 felonies related to workers' compensation insurance fraud.
The Los Angeles Times cites prosecutors as saying that in March 2022, Brown sustained a minor cut to her forehead while trying to handcuff an uncooperative suspect. She went to the ER and was given the green light to return to work that day. But prosecutors say that days later, she was was diagnosed with severe concussion syndrome and put on temporary disability leave; she claimed she was experiencing everything from headaches to difficulty processing words, and that working on a screen was impossible. But in addition to the music fest appearance, prosecutors claim that while on leave she hit the slopes at Mammoth Mountain and Big Bear, participated in two 5Ks, played golf, went to Disneyland, and was pursuing an online master's in organizational leadership, reports ABC7.
Prosecutors allege her 57-year-old stepfather, Peter Gregory Schuman, participated in organizing the fraud. He was the lawyer in the aforementioned call and handles workers' compensation defense for insurance companies, prosecutors say; he has been charged with two felony counts, NBC Los Angeles reports. Brown faces up to 22 years in prison if convicted of all charges. (This UPS driver failed in his quest to secure workers' comp after a crash.)
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