Police officer, wife under investigation

Fundraiser set up to help woman with breast cancer.

A Cleveland CLEVELAND — police officer is under internal investigation in connection with a fundraiser for his wife, who said she suffered from breast cancer while she was pregnant.

Officer Kenneth Brown is on medical leave for an injury he suffered while on duty, Cleveland police Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia said. He has been a police officer since 1993. His wife is also under criminal investigation by Cleveland police, according to Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association President Jeff Follmer.

Follmer said it is unclear what, if any, role the officer had in the months of fundraisers set up to help Dawn Brown. He said that investigators believe that Dawn Brown was never pregnant, nor did she have cancer.

“If she lied about that, it would be disgraceful,” Follmer said.

The investigation began after a blood drive was held Jan. 14 at the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association’s union hall. A notification on the Cleveland Police Foundation’s newsletter says that a fundraiser was held for the officer’s wife, who was battling Stage IV breast cancer.

The case also includes an investigation into a gofundme.com account set up to raise money for the couple. The page has since been taken down, but a cached version of the post shows that $725 were donated over a one-week span.

The page says a friend built the page on behalf of Dawn Brown. It says the couple faced “mounting bills, medical bills and funeral expenses.”

It goes on to say Dawn Brown has fought cancer since she was 4 years old and that she is a mother and grandmother. The post also says the cancer spread to her stomach, brain and bones and that she “will be leaving her family and friends.”

The post says that Dawn Brown was due on Jan. 22, but that delivery was moved up because of the seriousness of illness.