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Woman's False Report Upsets Neighbors

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By MIKE WELLS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 29, 2007

A neighborhood crime watch coordinator is upset that a woman who authorities say lied about being attacked on a northwest Tampa street last week isn't facing charges for making a false report.

The scare to the community should be considered and charges should be filed, said Joe Manion, who lives 100 yards from the site where the woman said she was attacked.

"It did cause a bad light upon Westchase," he said.

There were no additional costs, according to the sheriff's office.

A sheriff's official says there are details about the woman's situation the office can't divulge.

On Dec. 19, the 39-year-old woman told Hillsborough County deputies that she was jogging when she was attacked at 8:20 p.m. on Countryway Boulevard at Peabody Lane in the Harbor Links subdivision.

The woman gave authorities a detailed account of a man wearing a hooded jacket grabbing her and pulling her into a wooded area. She said she clung to a tree and that the attacker punched her head, slammed it into the tree and choked her, before running off.

Four days later, the sheriff's office announced the story was false.

"She fabricated the whole account," Hillsborough County sheriff's spokesman J.D. Callaway said Dec. 22. "There were some domestic issues between her and her husband."

The woman was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital for treatment of multiple lacerations.

"We believe they were self-inflicted," Callaway said of her injuries.

The sheriff's office has not released the woman's name.

On Friday, sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said there's little information about the woman's situation that can be publicly released.

"Initially, she did not want to report it," Carter said. "It was a friend who kept after her and wanted her to report it."

Carter would not elaborate on why the woman told a friend she'd been attacked by a stranger.

"We don't believe there was a criminal intent," she said. Filing a false report "is a misdemeanor and the detective chose not to charge her."

Tribune reporter George Wilkens and News Channel 8 reporter Samara Sodos contributed to this report. Reporter Mike Wells can be reached at (813) 259-7839 or mwells@tampatrib.com.

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