Uh-Oh: Police Say Taylors Kidnapping Attempt May Not Have Happened as First Described
Interestingly, they’re still looking for a suspect, which I assume means they think an assault did happen and that the victim has some reason for not wanting to finger the right guy. Because the girl is 15, I’ll keep my speculations to myself.
From WSPA:
GREENVILLE – The Greenville County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday a kidnapping they started investigating Tuesday, concerning a 15-year old girl in Taylors didn’t actually occur, as it was orginially [sic] reported by the victim.
Investigators are now saying the incident does not appear to be a random “stranger on stranger” incident. They say the exact nature of this reported assault is still under investigation.
[...]
Wednesday, the GCSO still said they were seeking a 20-30 year old Hispanic male, with a medium build and a thin mustache.
Investigators said he was driving an older moldel [sic] “boxy” sedan, (possibly a Volvo) in connection with this incident.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 23-CRIME.
What’s with the false reporting these days? The girl had enough injuries that police are still thinking something happened, they just don’t know what yet. Let’s hope this is resolved quickly and the girl is ok.
Update: GreenvilleOnline.com is reporting the girl has told police she recognized the man:
Deputy Matthew Armstrong said the girl has told deputies that she recognized the man who grabbed her wrist on East Belvue Road on Monday morning. They don’t have a suspect name, and no charges have been filed, he said.
The “exact nature” of the reported assault remains under investigation, Armstrong said.
The teen told deputies that she escaped by pulling away from the driver and running, a deputy said in an incident report. Deputies are continuing to look for an older “boxy” red car, which they believe could be a Volvo, Armstrong said.
Strange.
Suzanne Hannah is a Liar Who Likes to Waste Law Enforcement’s Time
So you’re a 69-year-old with some time on her hands, a broken moral compass, and you’re looking for something to do after watching Anderson Cooper. What do you do? Why, travel to Walmart and file a false report of course!
From WYFF:
GREENVILLE, S.C. — The latest in a string of false police reports involves a 69-year-old woman deputies say lied about having her purse snatched.
Suzanne Hannah, 69, of Greenville, is charged with filing a false police report of a felony.
Hannah originally reported that she went shopping at the Walmart at 1452 Woodruff Rd shortly before 11:30 p.m. on Jan 18.
Hannah said when she left the store, she was approached by a dark-skinned man who grabbed her purse and fled on foot. Hannah also said that a bystander chased the “purse snatcher” but was unable to catch up to the man.
Investigators said they learned that Hannah waited almost 24 hours to report the alleged incident, even though she claimed $1600 in cash and a bank card had been stolen. Video surveillance from the business showed that Hannah was not at the business when the alleged incident occurred, deputies said.
Investigators said that they also determined through store records that Hannah never purchased the items she reported going to the store to buy.
She’s out on $2,500 bond. Authorities don’t know what her motive was for filing this report but my wife (who is my authority) thinks she was trying to squeeze money out of Walmart with a sob story. I personally blame the malignant influence of Anderson Cooper, but until we can verify her slavish devotion to the media darling we just can’t be sure.
This is yet another false report in the area which is a huge waste of time and resources. On the other hand, it’s kind of nice to live in an area where false reports of crime are our main concern.
What’s With All the False Reports in South Carolina?
Judge William Gilmer filed a false police report last year in which he claimed he was threatened over the phone. Kathryn Isbell is believed to have made up a report about a brutal rape. Two men were caught pretending they were carjacked while out drinking. 16-year-old Pearl Brown made a false report and followed up by going on the news and doubling down on her lies.
Local police are saying they’re “plagued” by false reporting but as Joe Friday pointed out in this post, this is not a plague of particular virulence:
Deputies investigated 34 cases involving filing a false police report in 2009. Those cases resulted in 29 arrests, 18 of which were men and 11 were women.
The cases took up 429 man hours at a cost estimate of $8,933.76 to investigate, the sheriff’s office reported.
Which to worldly big city expats who’ve moved to the Greenville area seems like small beans compared to the hundreds of false reports in places like New York City. But Greenville County barely has the manpower or money to spare to deal with the expanding population and the crime and drug use we darn northerners have imported here in the last decade. 429 man hours and around $9000 is a big chunk of scarce resources to spend on people’s nonsense.
The question is why people think they can get away with this sort of crime. In a big city where people are used to feeling anonymous I can almost understand the mistaken belief that a person could get away with a false report and often enough those cases are parts of other crimes. Here many of the false reports seemed to be standalone crimes by people who had no obvious gain by filing them.
But maybe there’s some other motivation:
One recent report was made by a Mauldin teenager who claimed to have been attacked in a park on New Year’s Day, according to police.
After the 16-year-old’s report, WYFF News 4 talked to psychiatrist Gretchen Enright to try to understand why the teen might have made the false report.
Enright said the quest for attention is common among individuals who lie about being the victim of a crime.
“They see in the media and in movies and on television shows that victims get a lot of nurturance and protection and care from individuals,” Enright said. “They may feel they’re not getting those needs met.”
She said they may also be trying to deflect attention from other problems.
“They may be trying to avoid some other aspects of their life and they may feel that this is the only way that they can get out of those other sorts of responsibilities,” Enright said.
Enright said some of these individuals may not comprehend the consequences of crying wolf to law enforcement.
“Young people don’t necessarily understand the seriousness of the consequences of when they’re telling a lie,” said Enright.
In other words Pearl Brown and Kathryn Isbell can be explained away as spoiled narcissists who have no concept that their actions have consequences. In that respect many of these false reporters aren’t unusual and I’d suggest that dealing with false reports is going to increasingly be part of police business as the callow, coddled youth of today grow older and stop being catered to. There are hundreds of Kathryn Isbells and Pearl Browns in Greenville right now and they are all racing toward an obscure life of loneliness and invisibility. When that happens people unused to being satisfied with their own company will do anything to drag the rest of us into their petty lives.
Marcus Lamar & John Crenshaw Charged With Filling False Carjacking Reports
This story is precisely why we have a “Just Plain Foolish” category here at Greenville Dragnet. Two Greenville men who claimed they were carjacking victims have now been charged with filing false reports.
Marcus Marcale Lamar, 26, of 120 Old Bleachery Road, and John Coleman Crenshaw 25, of 103 Crane Ave., were charged with filing a false police report of a felony violation in two separate incidents, according to warrants and reports released by the Greenville County Sheriffs office.
One of the incidents reportedly occurred at 5:30 a.m. on Nov. 29 in a club parking lot at 6119 White Horse Road. The second one supposedly occurred Jan. 1 near the intersection of Stallings and Rutherford roads.
Deputies believe alcohol was involved in both incidents. Marcus Lamar told deputies he had several drinks before being assaulted and having his car stolen outside Club Money on White Horse Road.
Lamar told investigators an elaborate story about someone helping him look for his car and eventually being dropped off at a gas station on North Pleasantburg Drive.
Lamar’s car was found wrecked at the intersection of North Pleasantburg Drive and Rutherford Road.
In the second incident on Jan. 1, deputies say John Crenshaw reported that he and a friend were carjacked near the intersection of Stallings Road and Rutherford Road.
Deputies said Crenshaw smelled of alcohol and was in muddy clothes and had scratches on his arms. He told deputies he was scratched up when the carjackers threw him into some thorn bushes.
Deputies said they found Crenshaw’s vehicle down a 20-foot embankment that was covered with thorn bushes near the intersection of Waddell and Rutherford roads.
Investigators used a combination of 911 recordings, witness statements, video surveillance, and scene investigation to determine that Lamar and Crenshaw had lied about the incidents.
False reports were a noticeable drain on Greenville County Sheriff’s Office resources in 2009, according to GreenvilleOnline.com.
Deputies investigated 34 cases involving filing a false police report in 2009. Those cases resulted in 29 arrests, 18 of which were men and 11 were women.
The cases took up 429 man hours at a cost estimate of $8,933.76 to investigate, the sheriff’s office reported.
Marcus Lamar and John Crenshaw face up to five years in prison and a $1,000 fine for their false reports. No DUI charges have been filed.