By Clara Harter
Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles police officer who said he was too injured to complete any work was not too injured to jump out of airplanes, prosecutors allege.
Christopher Brandon Carnahan, 43, of Norwalk has been charged with two counts of felony insurance fraud after going skydiving multiple times in Lake Elsinore and working out at a fitness center while also collecting disability benefits by exaggerating an on-duty work injury, according to the L.A. County district attorney’s office.
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Carnahan claimed that he injured his left elbow while at work in May 2023 and was subsequently placed on total temporary disability status, prosecutors said. Police officers with this status are entitled to receive 100% of their base salary tax-free for up to a year and then two-thirds afterward if the injury persists.
He was arrested Wednesday and is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail. His arraignment will be scheduled at a later date, prosecutors said.
If convicted as charged, he faces up to six years in county jail.
“This case is about honesty and accountability,” L.A. County Dist. Atty. Hochman said in a statement. “Claiming to be temporarily totally disabled and collecting disability benefits intended for injured workers while engaging in physically demanding activities like skydiving is a crime. This is an officer who knows the law and understands the standards he is sworn to uphold.”
He is not the only California first responder to have been accused recently of engaging in insurance fraud.
In December, a California Highway Patrol officer was sentenced to 270 days in a county jail for lying about an injury in order to claim medical retirement. In May, a former Westminster police officer was charged with 15 felonies related to workers’ compensation insurance fraud after she was accused of going skiing, visiting Disneyland and partying at the Stagecoach Music Festival while on disability leave. And in August, an L.A. County Fire Department captain was charged with four felony charges following allegations that he faked a work injury and forged doctors’ notes to fraudulently claim thousands of dollars in disability payments.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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