Juvenile detention worker faces charges

HARTFORD » A Hartford man was arrested Thursday and charged with illegally collecting Workers’ Compensation while he was working for the Cromwell school system after an injury on his job as a state juvenile detention officer supposedly rendered him unable to work.

Dameon McLean, 41, of 20 Essex St., Apartment 4B, Hartford, was arrested by inspectors from the Workers’ Compensation Fraud Control Unit in the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney on a warrant charging him with two counts of fraudulent claim or receipt of benefits and firstdegree larceny by defrauding a public community, according to a news release.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit, McLean received benefits after reporting an injury on March 22 while employed as a juvenile detention officer in Hartford.

Surveillance conducted in October showed him working for the Cromwell school system as a behavior support paraprofessional to supervise students whose behavior required them to be removed from a classroom, the warrant states.

McLean continued to collect workers’ compensation from his state job although he was not entitled to do so, the warrant states, and received about $21,000 in benefits while earning another $16,109 from the Cromwell job, it continues.

McLean was released on a written promise to appear in Hartford Superior Court on Feb. 9. The charges are accusations, and he is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, officials said.