Garden Grove – After police investigated a woman’s claim that she was nearly kidnapped by three men, it was revealed that the so-called victim made the whole story up.
The 21-year-old woman originally reported to Garden Grove police that she was walking through a neighborhood in the 9800 block of Bixby Avenue around 1:30 PM on June 12, 2019, when she noticed a silver or green colored minivan with tinted windows following slowly behind her.
She told police a Hispanic man exited the vehicle and tried to grab her from behind, while a second Hispanic man waited inside the vehicle to pull her inside. A third Hispanic man was driving.
She foiled the attempted kidnapping by spraying the first man with pepper spray. The man subsequently ran back to the minivan, and the vehicle fled eastbound on Bixby Avenue toward Brookhurst Street.
The woman claimed she did not recognize any of the men.
Garden Grove police and detectives followed up on the incident, asking anyone with information to contact police.
A 36-hour investigation was conducted, in which police followed up on leads, reviewed surveillance video, and even located the three purported kidnappers and getaway minivan.
During interviews, the alleged victim “continued to share details about the attempted abduction and how traumatized she was,” according to the press release written by Lt. Carl Whitney.
He went on, “After careful review of surveillance video and conducting more interviews, detectives determined the crime did not happen. Detectives confronted the victim with the investigation findings, and she admitted that she fabricated the story. A crime was committed because the female reported a false crime.”
The case will be reviewed by the District Attorney’s office, and the woman may be prosecuted for her false allegations
