LAKEWOOD, Colo., Sept. 2 (UPI) -- The wife of a Colorado police officer was indicted for taking $60,000 in donations after falsely claiming to have had terminal cancer for five years.
Ann Crall, 31, of Highlands Ranch, the wife of Richard Crall, a Lakewood police officer, was charged with six counts of theft, one count of charitable fraud and one count of forgery, The Denver Post reported Thursday.
The indictment says Crall had a prescription-drug addiction and used the donations to finance her addiction.
Officers from Lakewood and other local police agencies gave money to Crall, some on a bi-monthly, direct-deposit basis, the Post reported.
John Moore, past president of the Lakewood Police Employee Assistance Foundation, said he thinks Richard Crall was convinced his wife had cancer.
An investigation started after questions were raised early in 2009, the Post reported.
"She had reported her cancer was ongoing but she wasn't showing the effects, according to people who had seen her. She was already reporting stage 4. It was supposed to be fatal, so we just wanted some confirmation," Moore said.
Crall is accused of then having forged a document from the Colorado Rocky Mountain Cancer Clinic saying she had been treated for cancer. The foundation accepted the paper and made another $2,000 payment to Crall.
Moore said the foundation, which has assisted about 12 people each year, will most likely ask for doctors' confirmations from the start.
Crall's criminal history includes drug and theft charges and that she was sentenced to two years' probation and community service in August 2009 for possession of a controlled substance and forgery, records showed.
