I don’t know about you but I have Thanksgiving and Workers’ Compensation fraud on the brain this week. I was looking around for a good Thanksgiving related story to keep us in a festive mood. Maybe something along the lines of, “restaurant worker strains back lifting 50 pound turkey carcass for Thanksgiving meal”. Or, woman making cranberry sauce for holiday party gets hair caught in blender and claims on the job injury, and believe me I’m sure those stories are out there. But today, for your pre-holiday enjoyment I offer you the following true tale from the annals of IFA.com
N.Y. man pleads not guilty to shooting investigator checking on claim
According to the story, this guy, William Wehnke a fifty one year old on workers’ compensation saw what he thought was a wild turkey running through a field near his Annsville, New York (population 3,000) home. Grabbing his trusty shotgun he aimed and fired. Unfortunately for all involved it wasn’t a turkey. Instead he shot Matthew Brady, a workers’ compensation investigator who was wearing camouflage and hiding in the field investigating Wehnke for Workers’ Comp Fraud. Brady was shot in the side, back, and legs.
“The public defender’s office, representing Wehnke, told the court that Brady was wearing dark-colored and camouflaged clothing and lying on the ground at the time of the shooting. The public defender said Wehnke didn’t expect anybody to be near the cornfield and after hearing Brady cry out, he called 911 immediately.”
Despite the above “excuse” Wehnke, was arrested and indicted. They didn’t go for attempted murder but they did file charges for felony second-degree assault and for using wrong type of ammunition for turkey hunting. No mention was made in the indictment about whether the ammunition was appropriate for hunting Workers’ Compensation investigators.
Leader’s Choice Insurance would like to wish everyone a very happy holidays and remind you that when your Workers’ Compensation Insurance is up for renewal, you can save 30% by letting us shop for the very best rates for your industry and classification. We guarantee it.
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