A woman who allegedly scammed an elementary school’s Parent Teacher Organization out of $15,000 used her children this morning as lookouts in an attempt to evade arrest, Longmont police said.
Officers have repeatedly gone to the home of Cali Blash, who is accused of identity theft and theft for allegedly swindling the Northridge Elementary School’s PTO out of $15,000 when she was co-president of that organization, said Tim Lewis, commander of detectives at the Longmont Police Department.
In recent months, Blash failed to appear in court on allegations that she pocketed money collected by the PTO, paying off her credit cards and grocery bills with the organization’s money, said Lewis.
Most recently, the 31-year-old Blash failed to appear on March 12.
At about 10:30 a.m. today, a detective and two patrol officers, armed with an arrest warrant, went to Blash’s Longmont residence and knocked at the front door asking for Blash, said Lewis.
Her husband said, “She’s not here. She’s in Denver,” said Lewis.
At that point, the three officers backed off and hid, placing the home under surveillance.
At about 10:50 a.m., two of the couple’s three children came out of the house and started looking for police, said Lewis.
They didn’t spot the hidden officers and returned to the home. A couple of minutes later, said Lewis, Cali Blash walked out of the home’s back door and was arrested.
Lewis said that Blash’s husband is now under investigation for aiding a fugitive. He said, however, that authorities would not be arresting the children.
He said police are working with Social Services to provide all three children “the best home environment possible.”
According to Lewis, Blash is accused of working her scam between October 2007 and May 2008.
She was allegedly able to withdraw money from the PTO’s account by signing her name and forging her co-president’s name on the account, which required two signatures. Lewis said Blash also would take the PTO’s cash for the purpose of paying the organization’s bills. Instead, she pocketed the money, said Lewis.
The charges were brought in October 2008.
Lewis said Blash failed to appear in court on Dec. 4 but then turned herself into police on Feb. 18.
She then failed to appear on March 12, which led to today’s arrest.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
