Woman Provides False Information Following Dog Attack
In Moorhead, MN a report had been released about a 52-year-old woman who claimed she was standing at a corner waiting for a bus to arrive when a medium to large-size dog suddenly lunged at her and bit her several times in the face. The woman originally told police she believed the dog was a pit bull or bull dog and that the attack was unprovoked. When police investigated further the following day, the victim admitted to police that the attack actually happened at an acquaintance’s home as she was reaching down to pet some puppies that the dog had.
The dog then lunged at the woman and bit her in the face. The owner was unable to provide current vaccination records for the dog when police were investigating, thus the dog and her puppies were placed in the custody of the city pound for observation. The Clay County Attorney’s Office will review initial police reports to determine if charges will be filed. If charges will be filed against the woman they could include charges for filing a false police report.
Filing a false police report is a somewhat common offense and is often regarded as a misdemeanor depending on the severity of the offense and the ensuing results. People who file false police reports could face charges that result in a fine of roughly $1,000 or possible jail time if the offense is severe enough. In this incident, the woman’s false police report could have resulted in legal troubles for the dog’s owner and it could have also resulted in the dog being destroyed if police found that its vaccination records were not up to date.
When a person is under distress, it is possible for them to forget certain details of a traumatic event and accidentally provide information that may turn out to be untrue. However, when a person blatantly provides information to a police officer and knowingly lies to the police, they should be held accountable for their actions and false statements if they result in serious legal troubles for those they accuse. Nobody deserves to be falsely accused and nobody should provide false information in an attempt to hide the actual truth from the police to avoid getting somebody else in trouble.
