Not what it appears: 1 arrested after false report spurs police action
Published 10:21 am Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Austin police and sheriff’s deputies prepare to try and enter a house on the 1900 block of E. Oakland Avenue, which was the scene of a false police report Monday. The street was blocked for more than an hour. Photos by Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
A 27-year-old Albert Lea man was arrested Monday for calling in a false police report that led to police blocking off a street near Neveln Elementary School for more than an hour.
Austin police were called to a residence on the 1900 block of E. Oakland Avenue just north Neveln’s playground around 12:04 p.m. The suspect told police he knocked on a house that his girlfriend and children were in, but a man came to the door with a shotgun and pointed it at him. Officers responded and set up a perimeter. However, the suspect left the scene and was later called back. Police questioned the man and found inconsistencies with his story.
“The more he was interviewed, the more his story fell apart,” Police Chief Brian Krueger said.
Austin police and sheriff’s deputies stage at a house next door.
Officers later got in touch with someone else, who told police no one was in the home at the time of the report. Officers searched the residence and found no one, according to Krueger.
Charges are pending, but Krueger said the suspect could be charged with filing a false police report.
“Obviously we take these kind of calls extremely serious,” he said. “Put a lot of manpower in.”
The man admitted using drugs on Sunday, which was a violation of his parole, but Krueger didn’t know if that contributed to Monday’s incident.
The Mower County Sheriff’s Office assisted on scene Monday, which police cleared after 1:30 p.m Monday.
The Herald does not publish suspect’s names until they are officially charged.
—Jenae Peterson contributed to this report.
