Sponsored message
Logged in as
Audience-funded nonprofit news
radio tower icon laist logo
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Subscribe
  • Listen Now Playing Listen
  • Listen Now Playing Listen

This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.

This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.

News

How The Ice Bucket Challenge Led To Charges For A Pasadena Cop

IceBucketPolice.jpg
Lego officers take the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge (Photo by Lynn via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr

This story is free to read because readers choose to support LAist. If you find value in independent local reporting, make a donation to power our newsroom today.

One of those viral Ice Bucket Challenge videos from last summer has landed a Pasadena police officer in a lot of hot water. Investigators have charged Officer Jamie Robison with disability insurance fraud after discovering a video that shows the officer lifting a five-gallon bucket full of ice water and dumping it on a fellow officer last July. At the time, Robison was supposed to be on disability for lower back pain.

Officer Robison pleaded not guilty on Friday to four counts of insurance fraud, which allege that she exaggerated injuries on two occasions to collect disability benefits, according to the Los Angeles Times.

It seems the Ice Bucket Challenge incident isn't the first time prosecutors believe Robison fraudulently received disability pay, either. The District Attorney's Healthcare Fraud Division alleges that she also exaggerated a shoulder injury in 2012 to collect insurance payments for over a year.

Robison's alleged fraud may have cost Pasadena taxpayers up to $117,000, and if convicted faces a maximum sentence of six years and four months in county jail.

You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our connected community. We are free to tell the full truth, to hold power to account without fear or favor, and to follow facts wherever they lead. Our only loyalty is to our audiences and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen our community.

Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive from readers like you will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.

If this story helped you today, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.

Your tax-deductible donation keeps LAist independent and accessible to everyone.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief

Make your tax-deductible donation today