This is not your usual case of suspected workers’ comp fraud in which an injured worker is seen making repairs on his house or lifting children. Raphael “Noodle” Davis, a Los Angeles City firefighter, ran into trouble by moonlighting as a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter.
Besides participating in MMA fights, here’s another bad idea for workers’ comp cheats: posting online about your exploits in places such as YouTube and Twitter. YouTube videos show him in good fighting shape. While he was collecting workers’ comp he tweeted about running 2.5 miles in under 17 minutes. This is someone who was allegedly too injured to work, although the exact details about his injury have not been released.
Davis collected $30,000 in workers’ comp payments over a 2.5-year period.
The L.A. County District Attorney’s office says during the same period, he also fought at least three times in MMA matches as The Noodle. Oh, and he won all three of those bouts. Not bad for an injured guy.
Now Davis faces four felony counts of insurance fraud and up to five years in prison. He was arrested but released on $30,000 bail.
If Davis really was defrauding the workers’ comp system, he certainly wasn’t using his Noodle. (Oh come on, stop the groaning. You know you were thinking the same thing.)
