Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Dispatcher Arrested Faking Father’s Death

On Wednesday, a Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office emergency dispatcher, Amanda Vanrees, was arrested and booked on fraud and forgery charges stemming from alleged criminal conduct while on the job.

According to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO), Vanrees gave her supervisor “forged documents indicating her father had passed away and been cremated out of state, allowing her to be paid for 30 hours of “bereavement leave.” Her father is alive, and the person listed in the cremation certificate is fictitious. The blank documents and cremation employee’s names were obtained online and completed by her.”

Vanrees admitted to fraud and forgery.

“Our employees are never above the law,” said Sheriff Paul Penzone in a press release. “They will be held to the high ethical standard expected of a world-class law enforcement agency like the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.”

Vanrees will be booked at 4th Ave Jail for one count each of violations of A.R.S. 13-2310.A, Fraudulent Schemes and Artifices, a class 2 felony, and 13-2002.A.1, Forgery, a class 4 felony.

Vanrees has been employed as an emergency dispatcher since January 2019, and had recently given notice of her resignation from her position at MCSO.

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