False Reporting is charged in Greeley and Weld County when a person is accused of reporting a crime that did not actually happen. Recently, a mother was charged with this crime, along with Child Abuse, after she called to report that her son had been kidnapped. According to the report, the mother called to say that her son was taken off the side of the road when she was changing a flat tire. When police investigated, the boy was found and it was reported that adults had found him alone in a parking lot. The boy told the officers that his mom ran him over and left him. The woman eventually admitted that she dropped her child off on a road and left him because he was having a tantrum. She was arrested and is being help on a very high bond.
False Reporting Charges in Weld County: How is False Reporting to Authorities Charged in Colorado
The Weld County, Colorado law definition of False Reporting to Authorities – C.R.S. 18-8-111 – is:
(I) He or she knowingly:
(A) Causes by any means, including but not limited to activation, a false alarm of fire or other emergency or a false emergency exit alarm to sound or to be transmitted to or within an official or volunteer fire department, ambulance service, law enforcement agency, or any other government agency which deals with emergencies involving danger to life or property; or
(B) Prevents by any means, including but not limited to deactivation, a legitimate fire alarm, emergency exit alarm, or other emergency alarm from sounding or from being transmitted to or within an official or volunteer fire department, ambulance service, law enforcement agency, or any other government agency that deals with emergencies involving danger to life or property; or
(II) He or she makes a report or knowingly causes the transmission of a report to law enforcement authorities of a crime or other incident within their official concern when he or she knows that it did not occur; or
(III) He or she makes a report or knowingly causes the transmission of a report to law enforcement authorities pretending to furnish information relating to an offense or other incident within their official concern when he or she knows that he or she has no such information or knows that the information is false.
The mother would have been charged under subsection (II) if this had occurred in Colorado.
Penalty for False Reporting in Mead: A Criminal Defense Attorney Explains
In Mead and Windsor, False Reporting to Authorities is a class 2 misdemeanor. The penalty for this level misdemeanor is up to 120 days in the Weld County Jail and up to $750 in fines.