An Irwin woman was arrested Wednesday after authorities said she claimed to be a male police officer to an insurance investigator and falsified several documents relating to a claim, according to court papers.
Sharon K. Powell, 49, is charged with insurance fraud, attempted theft, criminal use of a communication facility, identity theft, forgery and impersonating a public servant.
Agents with the state Attorney General’s office were contacted by an insurance special investigator who reported Powell claimed on Aug. 10 that her Winnebago was damaged by a vehicle belonging to a West Mifflin company while both were traveling on Route 30, according to court papers. The driver and passenger of the company vehicle denied knowledge of the incident and no damage was found.
Powell claimed it cost about $6,000 to make the repairs to her Winnebago, police said. She provided several documents for the insurance claim that investigators later determined to be fraudulent, including a report from Irwin police, a handwritten statement from an off-duty policeman who supposedly witnessed the incident and an invoice for repairs, according to court papers.
While the insurance investigator was looking into Powell’s claim, he attempted to contact the off-duty officer and received a return phone call from a number listed for Powell. During the conversation, a female identified herself as the officer, who is a man, according to court papers.
Irwin police and the officer, who previously worked at the department, told investigators they didn’t have anything to do with the situation. The repair business Powell claimed to have used had no record of working on her Winnebago, according to court papers.
When authorities met with her in February, Powell could not explain why the handwriting on the falsified documents matched that of her own written statement, or why the repair businesses had no record of her, police said.
Powell’s attorney declined to comment Wednesday. She is free on $15,000 unsecured bond. A preliminary hearing is set for June 3.
She was sentenced to two years of probation in February on a retail theft charge, according to online court records. Powell was ordered to pay $441 in restitution and get a mental health evaluation. She previously served two years on probation for identity theft and access device fraud charges from 2017.
Renatta Signorini is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Renatta at 724-837-5374, rsignorini@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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