Philadelphia Cop Accused of Faking Insurance Claim After Leaving Accident Scene
By Ian Bush
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A fourteen-year veteran of the Philadelphia Police Department has been suspended from the force with intent to dismiss. The Philadelphia DA's office says she committed insurance fraud.
Prosecutors say that when First District officer April Shaynick filed a claim with Allstate this summer, she wrote up a police report saying her car had been parked when it was hit.
But assistant district attorney Linda Montag says that's not how it happened at all.
"It's alleged she was in an auto accident near Van Kirk Street in Northeast Philadelphia, and that she struck another vehicle that contained a passenger."
That person was taken to the hospital, and Montag says Shaynick -- in her own car, not a police cruiser -- drove off without stopping.
And she may not have noticed a pizza delivery guy nearby, adds Montag, "who saw Police Officer Shaynick's vehicle fleeing the scene, and the witness takes a photograph of that license tag. That's what led the investigation to the arrest of Officer Shaynick."
Charges against her include insurance fraud and leaving the scene of an accident.
