D.C. Cop Charged With Scamming 85-Year-Old Woman

WASHINGTON -- A District of Columbia police officer was charged Tuesday with scamming an elderly woman she was assigned to help, authorities said.

Sgt. Aisha Hackley was arrested on a theft charge at the police department's Second District headquarters, where she works. The 35-year-old was released on personal recognizance and is due back in court later this month.

Hackley forged the signature of an 85-year-old woman she met last December during a fraud investigation, depositing 10 checks from the woman's Bank of America account that totaled more than $43,000, according to court charging documents. Eight of the checks were made payable to Aisha Jackson, which authorities say is another name for Hackley, and two were written out to Kevin Jackson, her son.

The alleged victim contacted Bank of America on or about May 31 after noticing a series of suspicious checks charged against her account. She later told a fraud investigator that the signature on eight of the checks was not hers, that she would not have authorized the checks for the amounts written and that she did not know Aisha Jackson or Kevin Jackson, according to court records.

Hackley, when questioned by a bank investigator, said she had met the woman last December after the woman reported being a victim of a lottery scam. Hackley visited the woman's home several times over the next few months and even helped her open a new PNC Bank account, the documents say.

Hackley's attorney, Kenneth Auerbach, did not immediately return a call seeking comment. D.C. police spokeswoman Gwendolyn Crump said Hackley's police powers have been revoked and that Hackley came under investigation after the Internal Affairs Division received a tip from a police officer last month.

Hackley's next court date is June 30.

Hackley was recognized in December 2003, at the Capital Hotels Award Metropolitan Police Service Award Luncheon for arresting two teenagers who were in a stolen car after she saw the vehicle make an illegal turn.