A woman who claimed that she was attacked and robbed by a man and woman while jogging in a Tennessee town was arrested on April 30 after police said an investigation revealed she was sitting in a bar at the time she said the crime occurred.
After Pauls reported the alleged incident, the department sent out a safety alert, which was spread by media outlets.
"There were many residents deeply troubled and expressed concerns about something like that happening in their neighborhood. Detectives spent several days and numerous hours working the case," the department stated.
"The investigation along with tips through Crimestoppers provided information which seemed to debunk the story of the woman being robbed while jogging and pointed to the 'victim' being at a bar at the time of the reported robbery. Detective Neagos was able to corroborate the fact that the woman was at a bar and had not been attacked while jogging as originally claimed and the story had been fabricated," the department added.
Pauls was taken into custody and booked into the Montgomery County Jail for filing a false report. Her bond was set at $5,000.
The original April 4 safety alert is still live on the police department's page.
"A woman in her 30s reported that she was robbed while jogging in the area of Nat Hoosier Ln., April 2, around 9 pm. Two individuals, a man and woman approached her from behind, and demanded everything she had. She was grabbed and punched, then an item of jewelry was taken off her wrist. When a car drove by, the suspects fled from the scene. The woman went home, sought medical attention the next day for the injuries to her face and arms, and then reported the robbery to police," it said.
Anyone with tips was asked to call the police.
Mother Charged in False Abduction Report
A woman who told police that an Egyptian man had tried to kidnap her daughter from a West Virginia shopping mall was jailed April 5, after the accusation unraveled, a police detective said.Barboursville Police Detective Greg Lucas said Santana Renee Adams was charged with falsely reporting an emergency incident, a misdemeanor that carries up to six months in jail and a $500 fine.
The 24-year-old Adams turned herself in about 2 p.m. and was jailed after a magistrate judge set bail at $20,000, Lucas said. She was calm and quiet while she was booked and ignored questions from a throng of reporters waiting for her at the courthouse, he said. Lucas said she didn’t have an attorney yet.
The charge capped a sensational tale of a mother using a gun to thwart a brazen abduction attempt that quickly fell apart amid inconsistencies.
Adams initially told police that a man grabbed her 5-year-old daughter by the hair inside a clothing store Monday and tried to pull her away but stopped when Adams produced a gun, authorities said. A criminal complaint went into further detail, describing a frightening scene where a Middle Eastern man dragged the girl by the hair as she dropped to the floor.
But the story started to crumble when no witnesses could be found and mall surveillance video didn’t match the woman’s original statement. Upon additional questioning, authorities said, Adams began changing her account.
She later told investigators she may have overreacted and misinterpreted the man’s intentions. Police said he may have simply been patting the girl on the head.
“There’s quite a bit that doesn’t line up,” Lucas said.
On Thursday, authorities announced they were dropping charges against the man, Mohamed Fathy Hussein Zayan, a 54-year-old engineer from Alexandria, Egypt, who was in the area for work. He cried as he greeted family members upon his release from jail.
“Unfortunately, as false accusations are becoming more prevalent in today’s social media driven society, we are losing our grasp on ‘presumed innocent until proven guilty,’ and Mr. Zayan has been tried around the world by the court of public opinion,” Zayan’s public defender attorney, Michelle Protzman, said in a statement.