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Sat 13 May, 2006 05:08 pm
'Paraplegic' Leaps From Wheelchair, Flees
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) - Authorities said a woman who claimed she was a paraplegic and repeatedly filed claims and lawsuits for noncompliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act was a con artist without any physical limitations.
After her arrest this month by Las Vegas police, Laura Lee Medley, 35, leaped from her wheelchair and ran for freedom, officials said.
Complaining earlier that she was having medical problems, police took the woman to a Las Vegas hospital for treatment, said David Wert, spokesman for San Bernardino County.
"That's where the great miracle occurred," he said. Medley "made a break for it," leading police on a brief foot pursuit before she was captured, Wert said.
Medley's claims against public entities - including San Bernardino County, South Pasadena and Long Beach - claimed a bus dropped her off near what she called a non-ADA compliant roadway or curb, causing her wheelchair to topple. She claimed three broken arms in eight weeks - two lefts and a right.
South Pasadena settled Medley's claim for $6,700 on Oct. 18, 2005.
Her questionable claims led to last week's arrest in Las Vegas.
Medley was charged with filing false documents, attempted grand theft and two counts of insurance fraud. She is in a Las Vegas jail awaiting extradition to San Bernardino.
Medley's alleged deception was discovered by San Bernardino County officials after she filed a complaint saying she fell and broke her left arm on Oct. 17, 2005.
County lawyer Mike Sachs said Medley called him in December to complain about treatment she was receiving from county employees. Medley claimed she was an ADA compliance expert and she threatened to organize a protest march, Sachs said.
"She was a very pushy lady, and anytime she wasn't happy with a response she was getting from someone at the county, she would try to go to the next highest person," Sachs said.
On Feb. 4, she filed a claim for $9,072 in medical expenses and lost wages. Medley then produced hospital medical records, documents that repeatedly misspelled Bernardino as Bernadino.
The hospital confirmed the documents were bogus.
Sachs said they learned Medley filed a nearly identical wheelchair-toppling claim seeking $5,200 from Long Beach. The claim was denied because the sidewalk was wheelchair accessible, Long Beach Deputy City Attorney Belinda Mayes said.
Medley then filed a federal lawsuit April 4 against Long Beach. That U.S. District Court suit is still pending and Mayes declined comment.
Gal right after my own heart . . . not.
Some folks will try any scam going, won't they?
I know this crackhead that got a brand new electric wheel chair he doesn't even need. He tried to sell it to me for $1500. He also gets full bottles of Oxycontin for 2$ a bottle which he sells for crack and we pay for it. I've lived In Long Beach for 8 years and San Bernadino for 7 years. I used to buy food stamps from crackheads for 50 cents on the dollar. Then we would go buy 50$ worth of Alaskan king crab legs with food stamps. The cashier looked was completely disgusted. He turned three differant shades of red.
We started a tradition of the "Food stamp Bar BQ" we would go buy food stamps then go get all the best food at the market and have a HUGE Bar BQ all the neighbors thought we were rich. We would invite them to our big Bar BQs.
Come to think of it I think I'll go buy more of those things.
Does any body need a Electric wheel chair? I know where to get one cheap.
............
What happend to us? Pass the ribs.
Reyn wrote:Some folks will try any scam going, won't they?
you mean she wasn't miraculously healed?
by the way, Reyn, i challenged Zormaster at Stan's & she blew me off the board.
however, i'm holding my own (so far) in the rematch.
yitwail wrote:by the way, Reyn, i challenged Zormaster at Stan's & she blew me off the board.
however, i'm holding my own (so far) in the rematch.
Well, she's a good player (from everything I've heard), but she's got a terrible ego problem.
I've had a "run-in" with her once before when I was the coordinator for collaborative chess at Stan's. She couldn't work with her team mates without be bossy or compromising.
She ended up being kicked off the team. Nasty scene.
i'll be sure to be extra nice. :wink: (even though i'm already nice anyway, but miscommunications happen, especially if english isn't someone's first language)
Yes, exactly. She's had many a flare-up with others, and later had to apologize.
i'll say one thing, insurance scams as a way to make money are not the easiest scam i'd consider, as anyone who's ever been involved in a legal battle knows it's no speedy process, she's tenacious if nothing else
I know a woman who bought and paid for a house completely on bogus ICBC scam claims... makes me mad just thinking about it. They even had a video of her competing in a Children's Hospital Dance-A-Thon while she had 3 claims out for a bad back (and off work, don't you know), but they said it was cheaper to pay her than to take her to court or fight it. Blah.
Mame wrote:I know a woman who bought and paid for a house completely on bogus ICBC scam claims....
Welcome from British Columbia. Hot right now, isn't it?
Thank you, Reyn, and yes, it's beautiful. Feels like summer... everyone is eating outside on the benches - what a nice sight to see.
I was through your town a couple of weekends back - went to Minter Gardens with few gals. I don't get out to the Valley much, but it's lovely. I could see myself living there.
Well, it's a bit too hot for me right now. Hit a record here yesterday of 30, I believe. And that's in May!
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