Former Logger Charged With Taking Nearly $300K in Fraudulent Benefits

A former logger who claimed leg and back injuries has been charged with stealing nearly $300,000 in benefits after investigators accused him of faking his injuries, the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries said. James Joseph Thomasson, 52, of Kalama, was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday on a count of felony first-degree theft, L&I said. Thomasson received comp benefits for nearly four years after claiming that his job-related injuries kept him from working.  L&I investigators, however, discovered recordings of Thomasson “dancing, walking normally an...