The husband of a police officer who was incapacitated after being shot in the line of duty has been found by an Alabama probate judge to have misused his wife’s care funds, including spending substantial amounts at Mississippi casinos.
Wife Robbed of Hundreds of Thousands Gets Justice
The husband, Prichard Police Sgt. Aaron Tucker, was appointed conservator of his wife Jackie Tucker’s finances. Over the years, however the court has argued that the $554,305 collected for Tucker from 2017 and 2021 was eventually almost all spent through June 2022.
Police officer Tucker was shot in 2016 when she and her partner, Ron Hannah, were responding to a domestic violence call in a suburb of Mobile.
Upon arriving, an individual identified as Matthew Blake Richardson opened fire on the police and hit Tucker in the head. She survived, but was incapacitated.
Mobile County Probate Judge Mark Erwin has ruled that the husband did not adequately use the funds allocated to care for his disabled wife, with the man ending up gambling away the funds at casinos across Mississippi instead.
Money to Be Repaid to Victim, Husband on the Hook
“The GAL discovered that Tucker had spent a significant portion of the funds in casinos in Mississippi. The GAL reported that the $97,000 Mercedes Sprinter van purchased by Tucker, allegedly for ‘injury-specific transportation needs,’ did not contain any type of handicap lift or assistance,” Judge Erwin noted in his remarks, noting that the man has spent $553,957.09 of his wife’s money.
Judge Erwin’s ruling did several things. First, and most importantly, the husband has been removed as the conservator of Tucker’s estate and finances.
The judge also ordered Hartford Insurance, the backer of the fiduciary bond issued when the man was named his wife’s conservator, to pay the victim $300,000, for which the company may seek reimbursement from the husband.