An 18-year-old woman from North Liberty, Iowa, was taken into custody after she falsely reported a crime to law enforcement. Sumaya Thomas had arranged a date with a man she met on a dating app, but when he arrived at her home on June 16, she decided she didn’t want to go through with it. In an attempt to avoid the date, Thomas called the police and fabricated a story about the man being a violent ex-boyfriend.
Thomas told the police that the man had been abusive towards her and was threatening to physically harm her. She also falsely claimed that she was pregnant with his child and that he intended to assault her. However, when officers arrived at the scene, the man was able to provide evidence that contradicted Thomas’ claims.
The man showed the officers messages between him and Thomas, proving that they had only met on a dating app a week prior. This evidence contradicted Thomas’ claims that they had known each other for two years and that he had been abusive and threatening towards her. Thomas had claimed that their communication had taken place over Snapchat, but the man’s evidence showed otherwise.
Further investigation revealed that Thomas had deleted messages from her phone that she had exchanged with the man. Eventually, she confessed to making false reports because she had second thoughts about meeting him. Thomas had believed that the police wouldn’t assist her in avoiding the date, so she fabricated the story and the events she described to them.
As a result of Thomas’ false report, the man, whose identity has not been disclosed, was detained for over an hour. Thomas was subsequently arrested and charged with two counts of False Report of Indictable Offense to Public Entity, a misdemeanor, and one count of False Report on a 911 call.