Ex-police chief, 47, 'worked as a pin-up model called Black Widow Bettie while claiming disability and saying she was too traumatized to leave her house after a 285lb corpse fell on her'
A former small-town police chief from Washington state has been charged with fraud for collecting tens of thousands of dollars in workers’ compensation benefits while working as a pinup model, despite claiming she was disabled.
Brenda Lynn Cavoretto, 47, was police chief of Coulee City, Washington, in 2012 when a 285-pound corpse fell on her during a police call, according to the state Department of Labor & Industries.
She complained of back, shoulder, and abdominal injuries and such severe psychological trauma she couldn’t work or be around other people, the agency said Thursday.
Brenda Lynn Cavoretto, 47, a former Washington state police chief-turned-pinup model, faces charges of making false or misleading statements to collect $67,000 in workers’ compensation
But state investigators say Cavoretto was actually making money as a pinup model, wearing sexy clothes and posing in the style of Betty Grable.
Cavoretto, of Gold Bar, Washington, faces two charges of making false or misleading statements to collect more than $67,000 in workers’ compensation benefits from the state.
She was injured eight years ago after a domestic violence suspect hanged himself in a barn. She tried to take down the body, but the 285-pound corpse fell on her. She started receiving workers’ compensation benefits in 2013.
Investigators found that from 2015 through early 2020, Cavoretto was photographing pinup models, organizing pinup pageants and fundraisers, and was often photographed herself under such monikers as Tuff As Nailz and The Black Widow Bettie.
Cavoretto posted on social media in 2015 that she has appeared as a model and photographer in 52 publications, including three magazine covers and calendars, according to charging papers.
Cavoretto is accused of defrauding the state by claiming disability while working as a pinup model known as The Black Widow Bettie and Tuff As Nailz
She was injured eight years ago after a domestic violence suspect hanged himself in a barn and then his 285-pound corpse fell on top of her. Cavoretto claimed a spinal injury, nerve damage and PTSD
She even licensed a modeling, event and photography business with the Washington State Department of Revenue in 2015 called Annabella Berringer.
Cavoretto also ran a nonprofit group, Electric Pinup Dolls, that raised money for charity.
The Department of Labor & Industries said Cavoretto told a crowd at a bar and grill in Sultan, Washington, in 2019 that Electric Pinup Dolls had become a 'full-time job,' with the group raising $20,000 in 2018.
She also has her own fashion line called Beautiful Disaster, which offers street wear and casual clothing, including T-shirts, hoodies and sweatpants.
In May 2015, Cavoretto began seeing a psychologist, according to the Department of Labor & Industries. She told him she was having nightmares and was unable to leave the house, and the psychologist determined she was suffering from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
A case manager with the Department requested in the spring of 2019 Cavoretto be investigated. He noted she had been receiving mental health treatment for four years without any improvement.
Cavoretto's attorney released a statement to KHQ on her behalf, denying any wrongdoing and arguing that the allegations against her were 'unsubstantiated and baseless.'
The lawyer insisted that Cavoretto has been prohibited from working as a police officer by her doctors, one of whom was quoted as saying that the fraud claim has been 'manufactured by the Department to have Brenda's time loss taken from her, so they won't need to pay her and will save themselves money.'
Cavoretto also denied through her attorney that she has been paid for her volunteer work.
In June 2019, Cavoretto detailed her life story on her clothing line's website, writing that growing up, she was passed between relatives and foster homes, until she married and fell pregnant at age 16.
A divorce soon followed, leaving Cavoretto a single mom with no high school education or income.
Investigators said they found that from 2015 through early 2020, Cavoretto was photographing pinup models, organizing pageants and fundraisers
She later got her GED, remarried and had another child, but her second marriage did not last either.
'So I decided my life was what I make it and I will do what I always wanted to do and that was to help others,' she wrote. 'I applied to the local police department, and became a volunteer officer.'
By 1999, Cavoretto had graduated from a police academy and was working as a full-time officer.
'I loved every bit of the job, I worked hard, took every training in every area I was offered. I kept working on myself to always do better, for me and for my boys,' she recounted in her bio.
In 2010, Cavoretto was offered a position of chief of police in Coulee City. After two years on the job, the incident with the falling corpse happened, leaving her with a 'severe spinal injury' and 'permanent nerve damage,' according to her written account.
According to the ex-cop, it was her third husband who introduced her to the world of pinup modeling by encouraging her to enter a local contest, which she ended up winning
'It was hell on earth, but I continued to attempt my normal life, and I kept working,' Cavoretto stated. 'My doctors eventually, told me enough was enough and I had to medically retire in mid-2013. It was devastating I must of cried for a month.'
According to the ex-cop, it was her third husband who introduced her to the world of pinup modeling by encouraging her to enter a local contest, which she ended up winning.
'I have since combined my love of all things vintage and pinup, with community service. I formed a non profit last year The Electric Pinup Dolls. We are a wonderful group of women, all ages, sizes, and backgrounds,' she wrote. 'Through Pinup I found myself again, I no longer feel like a burden, I feel I can still give back, and serve the community.
'I am on a quest to find other women that are that broken, Beautiful Disaster that I am and show them the same glimmer of hope like I first saw that really saved me.'
Cavoretto is scheduled to appear in court for her arraignment on October 19.