Pitchfork

44-year-old ESG drummer Valerie Scroggins was arrested last Thursday (May 3) on charges of grand larceny and insurance fraud, according to a report by The New York Times.

Scroggins faces the charges as a result of collecting $13,348 in workers' compensation this past September from her day job as a bus driver for New York City Transit, before heading out on ESG's European tour. She claimed she had hurt her shoulder on the job and could not report to work, a story that was validated at the time by the diagnoses of at least two doctors to which NYCT sent Scroggins.

The transit agency is making its case based on videotape of the European ESG shows taken by investigators, in which Scroggins is shown "energetically playing the drums." And if you've ever seen ESG live, you know that this woman is one hell of a drummer.

In a recent news conference, James Manning-- director of the agency's special investigations unit-- called the doctors' original diagnoses into question by saying the types of injuries claimed by Scroggins and three other transit workers recently arrested on similar charges "did not lend themselves to definitive diagnoses," according to the NYT article.

Stacey Richman, Scroggins' lawyer, challenged the agency's claims with a statement of her own regarding the video of her client drumming on tour: "I don't believe there's any movement that conflicts with the medical diagnosis."

Scroggins pleaded not guilty at her Thursday arraignment. In addition to the charges she faces at the impending trial, NYCT will ask her to return the money she collected in workers' compensation, according to Brooklyn district attorney Charles J. Hynes.