CLEARLAKE >> On Saturday the Clearlake Police Department reported a bizarre incident in which a woman claimed an unidentified man grabbed her child. She chased him down, telling police the boy was in an Austin Park restroom in a pool of urine.
A follow up report from the CPD suggested the 2-year-old had been urinated on by the stranger.
Wednesday detectives determined that the entire tale had been fabricated. Instead of continuing their search for the mysterious man, authorities are now considering charges against the mother for filing a false police report.
“At no time since the alleged incident occurred has anyone come forward as a witness to the incident,” said CPD Sgt. Tim Hobbs in a media statement. “It had been reported there were numerous people in the area a the time of the incident.”
According to Hobbs, detectives obtained information that led them to question the 23-year-old woman’s statement.
She initially told police that she had been sitting with her son at a table on the gazebo side of the park. At approximately 8:30 p.m. she said a man approached and started a conversation before asking to hold the boy. According to her account, when she refused the man shoved her, grabbed the child and ran toward the restroom.
The woman described her alleged attacker as a white male in his 30s, between 5’6 and 5’9, with long dark hair, a mustache and “possibly” a beard.
During an interview with the mother by Detective Elvis Cook on Wednesday, Hobbs said the mother admitted “that she had lied” about the incident.
Authorities are still investigating the story. Once completed, the case will be forwarded to the Lake County District Attorney’s Office.
