Fundraisers insist shot cop pays his own medical bills. He doesn’t

It’s been more than eight months since Maricopa Police Cpl. Joshua Fox was shot in the line of duty. Fortunately, while his injuries were major, they were non-life threatening.

Although Fox remains out of work on his long and undoubtedly painful road to a full recovery, the city of Maricopa continues to make sure he receives his full salary and benefits — that includes footing 100% of his medical bills.

So, why do people keep saying Fox is living in poverty, paying out of pocket to treat his bullet wounds while his family goes hungry?

A new GoFundMe campaign seeks $10,000 to pay for Fox’s mounting medical debt related to his injury in the line of duty.

Donors beware — no such debt exists.

Chandler resident Ashley Carter, who claims to be one of Fox’s “closest and longest friends,” said Fox’s “medical bills are piling up” and implied he will pay for his own upcoming surgery related to the police shooting.

She said he cannot afford his routine expenses at home. The fundraiser was advertised across Maricopa-centric Facebook groups last week.

Maricopa Police Department debunked all of this in a conversation with InMaricopa Feb. 26.

“There have been no changes to Cpl. Fox’s compensation during his medical leave,” spokesperson Monica Williams said. “What is not paid by workers’ compensation is covered by the city to make his salary whole. In addition, he is also still receiving his medical benefits, including full coverage of costs related to his work-related injury.”

Fox is earning a salary of $90,193.48 this year. That’s almost double the average salary in Pinal County and well above the average household income, according to U.S. Census data. And no medical bills to pay.

But Carter says: “If there were ever a family that needed the help, it is them now more than ever.”

One in 10 Maricopans lives under the poverty line and half of people in unincorporated Maricopa live in poverty, according to the census data.

A family’s need may be subjective, but Fox’s lack of “medical bills piling up” is objectively untrue. GoFundMe said in a statement that “misleading, inaccurate or dishonest” fundraisers are prohibited from the site.

“We do not and cannot verify the information that users or fundraisers supply,” the statement reads. A spokesperson for GoFundMe declined to talk about specific fundraisers.

Carter also didn’t reply to requests for comment from InMaricopa about her fundraiser. And while she’s come up far short of her $10,000 goal so far, the whole situation is like déjà vu. Except last time, the Fox family cashed out big.

In August, local resident Johnny Maynard raised $14,305 for the Fox family through a GoFundMe campaign that purported to pay for the corporal’s lost wages — which didn’t exist. At the same time, an anonymous Give InKind campaign organizer named “Help MPD” solicited the public for help putting food on the table.

But Fox’s kids were “picky eaters,” so the unnamed organizers urged donors not to waste their time making home-cooked meals that would be turned away at the door. Instead, they asked for Walmart and Visa gift cards, which can be redeemed like cash anywhere.

Fox could not be reached for an interview for this story.

It remains a mystery why people keep soliciting the public’s money to pay for imaginary lost wages and medical bills. Maynard and Carter describe Fox as living in squalor, but he earns the same $90,193.48 he did before his medical leave.

A GoFundMe might tug on the heartstrings, but that doesn’t make the details true.