SF Muni Driver Charged With Bogus Robbery, Injury Claim
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - A San Francisco Municipal Railway bus driver was charged with insurance fraud Monday following an investigation into a reported injury she suffered during a bus robbery in 2012, according to the San Francisco District Attorney's Office.
Velma Jones, 61, of Vallejo, was charged with four counts of insurance fraud stemming from an attack and robbery she reported on June 1, 2012, while operating a Muni bus, prosecutors said.
Jones had filed a workers' compensation claim through the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency alleging she had suffered head injuries in the attack.
According to court records, Muni bus surveillance footage contradicted her description of what happened during the incident.
In the footage, Jones apparently stepped away from her bus when someone came onboard and stole three booklets of paper transfers. She then returned to the bus once the items had been taken.
Jones has since been arrested following an investigation by the district attorney's office.
She was charged with four felonies including workers' compensation fraud, filing a fraudulent insurance claim, making false statements in connection with an insurance claim and similar charges.
She is out of custody on $50,000 bail.
Jones was scheduled to be arraigned in San Francisco Superior Court on Monday afternoon, but the proceeding was postponed until April 14, according to the district attorney's office.
If convicted of all charges, Jones faces up to eight years behind bars.
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