A man who matched the description of a suspect in an attempted child assault case reported on Sunday evening was found and arrested Wednesday, before being released when the report was found to be false.
The series of events leading up to the arrest and release of the suspect, whose name will not be released since he committed no crime, is detailed in a press release from the Chico Police Department:
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An initial call was placed by a concerned mother who told police her 12-year-old daughter said a man tried to grab her while she was walking her dog Sunday evening. The girl reported that her dog had stopped the man.
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Police obtained a description of the suspect from the child and were able to locate and arrest him Wednesday.
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The suspect denied any wrongdoing, and police discovered evidence corroborating his claim.
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Police conducted a follow-up interview with the child, noting inconsistencies before the child admitted to fabricating the story. She told officers the man had scared her.
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Police released the man.
Commander Billy Aldridge said in an interview that while reporting a false crime can result in misdemeanor charges, in this incident there would be no further action by police on this case.
Josh Cozine can be reached at [email protected] or @joshcozine on Twitter.
