2008 Woodie Awards
UMPD mislead
False report prompts e-mail alert, confusion
Adam P. Coulter, Collegian Staff
Issue date: 9/8/08 Section: News
On Sept. 4 the University of Massachusetts Police Department initially issued a crime alert regarding a reported unarmed robbery on campus, but through further investigation, the alleged victim's claim was revealed to be false. However, the possibility of charges being filed for a false report are strong, according to the UMPD.
The report was made early Thursday morning by a 22-year-old female UMass student who resides in the North Residential Area. The woman reported being accosted from behind by a white male, approximately 6-feet tall, with a dark blue sweatshirt and possibly wearing flip-flops. The young woman claimed that the man grabbed her purse and ran off, while she ran in the opposite direction. But after two initial interviews with the UMPD, problems with the women's story became evident.
"We started to see inconstancies in her reporting during the investigation into the event last night," said UMPD Deputy Chief Patrick Archbald on Sept. 5.
The women didn't make the call until 4:30 a.m., although she had said the robbery had occurred at 1:30 a.m. that morning.
Another significant discrepancy was exposed by the campus security cameras and from police speaking with witnesses that night.
"One of many inconsistencies was that she said she was alone, but she was seen to be with someone when she arrived at her dorm. We used other people who were with her at the time and looked at the campus security cameras," said Archbald.
"We then re-interviewed her and the inconsistencies were confirmed, she admitted that she did make it up," said Archbald.
At this time the reasoning behind the phony report is unknown, but filing a false report is a misdemeanor in Massachusetts and one taken seriously by the police.
When asked about the possibility of charges being filed in this case against the female student, Archbald said, "We've spoken with the District Attorney's office and yes, it points in that direction."
He added, "All the elements concerning what needs to be there to charge someone with a false report have lined up."
The UMPD will not currently identify the women in question, but the information may be forthcoming sometime this week.
"We're looking at next week charging her and then we will release her name," Archbald said on Friday.
Adam P. Coulter can be reached at apcoulte@student.umass.edu.
The report was made early Thursday morning by a 22-year-old female UMass student who resides in the North Residential Area. The woman reported being accosted from behind by a white male, approximately 6-feet tall, with a dark blue sweatshirt and possibly wearing flip-flops. The young woman claimed that the man grabbed her purse and ran off, while she ran in the opposite direction. But after two initial interviews with the UMPD, problems with the women's story became evident.
"We started to see inconstancies in her reporting during the investigation into the event last night," said UMPD Deputy Chief Patrick Archbald on Sept. 5.
The women didn't make the call until 4:30 a.m., although she had said the robbery had occurred at 1:30 a.m. that morning.
Another significant discrepancy was exposed by the campus security cameras and from police speaking with witnesses that night.
"One of many inconsistencies was that she said she was alone, but she was seen to be with someone when she arrived at her dorm. We used other people who were with her at the time and looked at the campus security cameras," said Archbald.
"We then re-interviewed her and the inconsistencies were confirmed, she admitted that she did make it up," said Archbald.
At this time the reasoning behind the phony report is unknown, but filing a false report is a misdemeanor in Massachusetts and one taken seriously by the police.
When asked about the possibility of charges being filed in this case against the female student, Archbald said, "We've spoken with the District Attorney's office and yes, it points in that direction."
He added, "All the elements concerning what needs to be there to charge someone with a false report have lined up."
The UMPD will not currently identify the women in question, but the information may be forthcoming sometime this week.
"We're looking at next week charging her and then we will release her name," Archbald said on Friday.
Adam P. Coulter can be reached at apcoulte@student.umass.edu.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Ed Cutting
posted 9/08/08 @ 9:26 AM EST
She should be expelled. Kids who do less routinely are and this is at least as serious as pulling a fire alarm.
Think of it this way: if you tie all the cops up with looking for some non-existent white male mugger, they physically can't be hanging out in the dark corners of the campus that night. (Continued…)
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