An Evanston woman who allegedly lied in late January when she told police two men wearing ski masks tried to kidnap her off the street has been charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct for filing a false police report, police said Wednesday.
Tianna Young, 18, of the 1500 block of Pitner Avenue, in Evanston, was charged Wednesday in connection with the Jan. 23 incident in the 1200 block of Fowler Avenue in Evanston, police said in a news release Wednesday.
According to the release, at approximately 4 p.m. on Jan. 23, police responded to a report of an attempted kidnapping. Young told police that two men wearing ski masks got out of a vehicle and attempted to kidnap her while she was walking to work in the 1200 block of Fowler Avenue.
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She also told officers she was able to fight off her attackers and that they fled in the vehicle. Young was not injured, police said in the release.
Evanston detectives investigated and learned of “circumstances that were not consistent with the reporter’s account of what occurred,” the release states.
Police said in the release that when confronted with inconsistencies in her story, Young admitted the kidnapping report was false.
According to the release, Young had given a false report.
“The hazards of making a false emergency police claim is that is always going to elevate a certain level of danger or risk,” commander Ryan Glew said Thursday. “It will bring an emergency response and officers will go looking for potential suspects.”
“That means that false report could lead to traffic or street stops or police contacts as officers are following the information they have in good faith to investigate this and restore safety to the public and they’re doing that unnecessarily,” he added.
Young was arrested at the Evanston Police Department and was released on bond. Young is scheduled to appear in court March 7 at the Skokie courthouse, the release states.
“She’s a kid,” said Glew. “Kids make ill advised decisions. For the person that was arrested, they’ll be an opportunity in the court system and hopefully she can get past a misjudgment and a youthful mistake.
Brian L. Cox is a freelancer.