Philly Fire Department captain charged with insurance fraud

A paramedic captain in the Philadelphia Fire Department was arrested last month and charged with insurance fraud, court records show.

Yolanda Stallings was previously an executive chief of strategic services, a position she held starting in 2014. Under a reorganization that occurred sometime before February, she was moved from that position to paramedic captain, said department spokeswoman Kathy Matheson.

Stallings, 43, of Northeast Philadelphia, was arrested June 27 and charged with forgery, theft by deception, and related offenses connected to insurance fraud, court records show.

CBS3 first reported the criminal case Tuesday.

Stallings and her lawyer, Tarik El Shabazz, could not be reached for comment.

The CBS3 report said Stallings had reported her SUV as stolen and filed a claim for $18,500. Investigators later discovered that the vehicle had been torched in Washington, D.C.

The TV station reported that Stallings could be placed at the scene through evidence.

Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel would not discuss the case except to say that it was a personal matter for Stallings and that the department must handle the case according to the collective bargaining agreement between the department and union employees, Matheson said.

A biography of Stallings was still on the department's website Tuesday.

Stallings was appointed a deputy commissioner in June 2014 and was given the title of executive chief of strategic services. She also is identified as executive chief of strategic planning. The website said she began her career as a fire service paramedic.

The fraud case is pending in Common Pleas Court.