Wife of LPD office indicted for theft, fraud in alleged cancer scam

Ann Crall

JEFFERSON COUNTY – The wife of a Lakewood policeman remained in county jail Thursday afternoon, charged with feigning a deadly illness and taking more than $60,000 from donors who believed she had cancer.

A Jefferson County Grand Jury indicted Ann Crall, 31, on six counts of theft, one count of charitable fraud and one count of forgery, according to a spokeswoman for the District Attorney’s Office.

The indictment alleges that five years ago Crall began telling people she was beginning   treatment after being diagnosed with cancer in the fall of 2005.

“There is no evidence that she ever had cancer,” according to a statement released by the DA’s Office.

The indictment alleges she maintained the deception for four years and continued duping her friends, neighbors, church members and others, while accepting their money, time and food to help the family through what they thought was a difficult time for the Cralls.

Lakewood Police Department employees and their colleagues from law enforcement agencies made contributions to help with what they believed to be cancer treatments for Ann Crall and to defray the family’s financial difficulties, according to the DA’s Office. And court records show that many friends and co-workers made regular bi-monthly donations that were deposited directly into the Crall’s bank account.

The alleged deception included a number of fund-raising activities in 2006 and 2008 and the resulting donations, more than 1,000 of them, were deposited into the Crall’s bank account, according to the DA’s office.

But early 2009, the Lakewood Employees Assistance Foundation became concerned about Ann Crall’s claims, suspecting she might not actually have cancer. The foundation requested documentation proving she had been diagnosed with cancer.

Crall is accused of providing a forged document from the Colorado Rocky Mountain Cancer Clinic saying that she had been treated for cancer.

Ann Crall, a Highlands Ranch resident, was arrested in Douglas County Aug. 30 and is being held on $25,000 cash bond.