A Muni bus driver was charged with four counts of insurance fraud today, District Attorney George Gascón said.
Velma Louise Jones, 61, of Vallejo, is alleged to have falsely reported to police that she was robbed while on the job on June 1, 2012, Assistant District Attorney Alex Bastian said.
According to court records, Jones was reportedly on break and not in her bus when she returned to find that a book of transfers had been taken. She then called police and said she was attacked and robbed and claimed she had pain in her head.
However, video surveillance from her Muni coach appeared to contradict her description of the attack, prosecutors said. Jones filed a workers' compensation claim for the injuries she reported receiving.
Jones is charged with four felonies, including workers' compensation fraud, filing a fraudulent insurance claim, submitting documents in support of a fraudulent claim and making false statements in connection with an insurance claim.
Jones is currently out of custody after posting $50,000 bail. Her arraignment was originally scheduled for today at 1:30 p.m. but that has been put over until next Monday at 1:30 p.m. in Department 12 of the Hall of Justice.
If convicted, Jones faces a maximum of eight years in state prison or county jail.
Gascón said the alleged fraud undermines the workers' compensation system.
"Workers' compensation insurance is designed to protect employees who are injured on the job," Gascón said. "This alleged fraud undermines an important system for those that really need it. What's worse, as a city employee she attempted to take a paid vacation from work at the expense of San Francisco taxpayers."
Jones' arrest is the result of an investigation by the District Attorney's Office Bureau of Investigations, Bastian said.