Man Charged With Filing False Police Report After Telling Police He Was Carjacked
GoLocalProv News Team
Man Charged With Filing False Police Report After Telling Police He Was Carjacked
As GoLocal reported, early Thursday morning, a man purporting to be a victim of a carjacking called police from the Elmhurst section of the city to report a crime.
After the vehicle was found later that day in Pawtucket, police say the man - Terrence Lafauret, age 24 - provided conflicting stories of what had transpired and was charged by police with filing a false police report.
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Lapatin said that when the vehicle was eventually located, Lafauret went to Central Station to leave a statement.
“There were holes in his report,’ said Lapatin. “He then admitted he did not tell the truth and made it up. He was charged with filing a false police report.”
Lapatin said that police take the filing of false police reports seriously.
“This report and investigation involved police resources that could been used elsewhere,” said Lapatin.
How Events Unfolded
When Lafauret first reported a “carjacking” to police shortly after midnight on Thursday morning, he said he had been “driving towards Regent Avenue” when he then made several turns.
He told police he had been arguing on the phone with his girlfriend and pulled over to the side of a street talk - but he was unable to provide his exact location.
According to police, Lafauret said a man dressed in all black, wearing a black ski mask, and brandishing a gun, approached him and told him to get out of the car - a Toyota Camry.
Lafauret said that his wallet had been in the car; he said he then walked to a friend’s house nearby to call police.
According to police, the vehicle was found in Pawtucket later Thursday afternoon - and police called Lafauret in for questioning.
Police said during questioning, Lafauret provided the wrong telephone number for his girlfriend - and when police were able to track her real number down, found that there was no phone call between the two at the time and location Lafauret said there was.
Lafauret then changed his story multiple times, say police, and was ultimately charged with a false report of a crime (RIGL 11-32-2).
According to state law:
Every person who shall knowingly make or cause to be made a false statement of a crime, either oral or written, with intent that it be relied upon by a police officer of any city or town or by any member of the state police, shall be deemed guilty of obstructing an officer and shall be imprisoned not exceeding one year and/or be fined not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500), and shall in addition to this imprisonment and/or fine be ordered to make restitution to the person falsely accused of a crime for any damage which the person sustained as a result of the false complaint.