Three years after Rebecca Ish reportedly injured a tooth after biting into a McDonald’s cherry pie, the longtime Duvall resident and former City Council candidate was charged August 22nd with first-degree theft, first-degree attempted theft and two counts of filing a false claim.

Ish, 38, pleaded not guilty earlier this month to all the charges. Both insurance company officials and Duvall police investigated the matter.

According to King County prosecutors, Ish, on July 31, 2004, said she broke a tooth after biting into a pit in a cherry pie purchased at a McDonald’s. The pie was made by The Bama Companies. Ish submitted a claim for $6,371 for dental work she said was done by her employer, a Redmond dentist. The claim was paid by the pie company’s insurer, Chubb Federal Insurance Co.

Less than three months later, charging documents say, Ish reportedly bit into a piece of bone in a cheeseburger she purchased at a Woodinville McDonald’s. Ish then submitted medical records saying her employer repaired her teeth again at a cost of $6006.

In November 2004, an insurance company investigator interviewed her employer, who stated he never performed any treatment on her.

He confirmed that Ish was an employee in a position which would have given her access to insurance and billing documents, prosecutors said.

In August of 2006, a Duvall police officer followed up the insurance company’s investigation. The officer took another statement from the employer that confirmed the insurance investigator’s report. The resulting conclusion was that the claims Ish had made were false.

This is not the first time Ish has been charged with a crime. In 2003, after a 6-month Duvall police investigation, Ish pleaded guilty to first-degree theft in a case involving embezzlement from a Duvall dental practice where she worked as office manager. She was sentenced to restitution plus a $500 fine and 48 days of electronic home detention.

Court documents say in that case, Ish was fired after NSF checks were returned to her employer. Police, operating with a search warrant, discovered Ish set up two lines of credit without the employer’s knowledge. Prosecutors said a search of her residence revealed property purchased by Ish and charged to her employer. Police also discovered Ish had deposited a total of $27,000 to her own account over a three-year period.

Ish ran unsuccessfully for a Duvall City Council position in 1999, losing to Mark Cole. During that period of time, she was also very active in community activities, including Duvall Days, according to her statement in the voters pamphlet.