It’s the End of the Line for MTA Bus Driver
By Robert Warne - January 5, 2004 Los Angeles County closed out 2003 with a buzzer beater workers’ compensation fraud arrest of a Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) bus driver, December 30.
Even though Lolita Hicks Dolliole-Crowder has 15 claims to her name against the MTA, it wasn’t her track record that caught the authorities’ attention on her 16th claim.
It was the bus’ onboard cameras’ documentation of the incident she claimed left her physically injured, that cast the shadow of suspicion over the validity of her claim.
The incident occurred in December 2002 when an argument ensued between her and a passenger over transfers and fares, according to the Daily News.
Dolliole-Crowder claimed that during the heated exchange the passenger physically assaulted her and hit on the wrist and arm.
The cameras did capture the argument, but there was nothing on the cameras to back up her claim of a physical attack.
According to the Los Angeles Times, MTA officials credit their aggressive approach to combating workers’ compensation fraud such as installing cameras in the buses with dropping their claim numbers by almost 300 from the same period two years ago.
MTA also gives credit to its claims department for helping trim its workers’ compensation costs which two years ago were the highest in the nation for a big city transit agency.
So as far as Dolliole-Crowder’s case goes, for now, she’ll be riding out one of her earlier disability claims until she learns her fate with the 16 counts of fraud she’s been charged with.
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