Escambia County cheerleading coach arrested for allegedly stealing over $2K
ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Fla. (WKRG) — An Escambia County Public School volunteer cheerleading coach was arrested after allegedly stealing thousands of dollars from the program.
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When the alleged crime occurred, Cedriahanna An’trnice Brooks-Hill, 28, was a volunteer cheer coach at Pine Forest High School.
According to an arrest report, the cheerleading team at PFHS had a cheer camp where they raised $4,800. That money was allegedly given to Brooks-Hill, who was supposed to turn it in to the school bookkeeper.
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Escambia County Schools’ investigator contacted the bookkeeper, who said she never received the money.
It was also found that Brooks-Hill had been sent $2,500 through CashApp from the junior varsity cheerleading coach, to be turned into the bookkeeper, according to her arrest report.
Brooks-Hill allegedly said her phone screen was broken, so she could not access the money in the app.
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The school bookkeeper estimated that the school was missing $7,000 that Brooks was supposed to turn in, according to the arrest report. This was discovered when the varsity cheerleading coach attempted to get money to pay the colleges that presented the cheer clinic, and there was no money in the account.
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The school investigator told deputies Brooks-Hill said she turned in a Monies Collected Form where she claimed $1,600 had been given to the bookkeeper, according to the arrest report.
The bookkeeper repeatedly said she never received any money from Brooks-Hill and that the signature on the form was not hers.
Investigators interviewed multiple parties involved, including the varsity and junior varsity coaches and the bookkeeper. The bookkeeper told investigators that the JV coach sent the money to Brooks-Hill, even though that was against school policy.
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The JV coach told investigators she was never shown the proper procedure to take money from parents and turn it into the school district. She showed investigators images on her phone that showed she had CashApped Brooks-Hill the $2,600 on June 15, 2023, according to the arrest report.
During the varsity coach’s interview, she said she had received $4,800 from the parents and given it to Brooks-Hill. The coach said she had completed a Monies Collected Form but had filled it out incorrectly. She allegedly gave the incorrect form and $4,500 to Brooks-Hill but did not have a way to verify the transaction.
The coach then told investigators she had gone back and filled out the form correctly and also gave that form to Brooks-Hill.
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Following the money trail
Investigators received subpoenaed documents from CashApp that confirmed the JV coach’s story that she had sent Brooks-Hill $2,600.
The document also shows 10 payouts for $2,582 from Brooks-Hill to herself, her mother, her sister, and her mother’s boyfriend.
Investigators have not verified the theft of the missing $4,500. Brooks-Hill was arrested and charged with 10 counts of fraud-swindle and one count of felony grand theft.
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