Brady Offense No. 1750027997 - 717684462

Nicole Brown

Westminster Police Department

8200 Westminster Boulevard, Unit 5

Westminster, California 92683

(714) 898-3315

https://www.westmin…

Date of Offense

May 19, 2025

Offense(s)

Criminal Charges and/or Conviction

Official Statement

Westminster Police Officer Nicole Brown, 39, is facing 15 felony charges for allegedly faking a serious head injury sustained in 2022. Despite being treated and cleared to return to duty immediately after the incident, Brown began collecting Total Temporary Disability benefits while continuing a physically active lifestyle—running 5Ks, skiing, golfing, attending baseball games and Disneyland—with her fraud investigation triggered when she was spotted dancing and drinking at April 2023’s Stagecoach Music Festival. Prosecutors allege she received more than $600,000 through workers’ compensation and insurance fraud; her stepfather, attorney Peter Schuman, is also charged with aiding the scheme. Brown could face up to 22 years in prison, and she maintains her injury was genuine.

California Public Records Act

§ 6250-6268

The California Public Records Act is a series of laws meant to guarantee that the public has access to public records of governmental bodies in California. In December of 2011, a Superior Court judge ruled that the California Assembly must also disclose budget records of individual lawmakers, after some California newspapers filed a lawsuit accusing legislators of flouting the state’s open records laws.

Public records in the California Public Records Act are defined as “any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the public’s business prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local agency regardless of physical form or characteristics.” There is a separate category of “purely personal information” that, although it may be in the custody of a government agency, does not fall under the act. Statute 6255 states a catch all exemption, “The agency shall justify withholding any record by demonstrating that the record in question is exempt under express provisions of this chapter or that on the facts of the particular case the public interest served by not disclosing the record clearly outweighs the public interest served by disclosure of the record.”

Anyone can request public documents in California, and a purpose does not have to be stated. The California Public Records Act does not regulate the use of records obtained from public agencies. One should allow 10 days for an agency to comply with a records request.

Brady Offense No. 1750027997 - 717684462

Date of Offense

Offense(s)

Official Statement

California

Peace OfficerBill of Rights

California Public Records Act

Peace Officer
Bill of Rights