The Atlanta Journal Constitution has followed up this story with one titled “For police, reported crimes are true until proven false.” It reads, in part:
Even in those instances when instinct suggests a person is falsely reporting a crime, law enforcement is obliged to investigate to sniff out the true from false.
After all, even the most outlandish story can be real.
“When we respond we have to assume the victim or complainant is telling the truth,” said Lt. Jay Baker, spokesman for the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office. “Evidence will support your claim or it won’t.”
Other stories about David Whitaker:
Teen cries wolf with home invasion story (Cherokee Tribune)
Teen charged for lying about intruder (Cherokee Ledger News)
Story originally posted Aug. 10
ATLANTA (AP) — An 18-year-old who initially told police he was stabbed in a home invasion apparently slashed his own arm playing with a sword in his house.
The Cherokee Sheriff’s Office has charged David Whitaker with filing a false report of a crime. Whitaker told police he struggled on Thursday morning with a mystery man in dark clothes in his living room and said the man cut his left arm before fleeing the home.
The incident sent four local schools into safety caution mode for about an hour while authorities searched for the alleged suspect.
The next day, Whitaker, the son of a Cobb County police officer, confessed he made up the story because he was afraid of getting in trouble. It is not clear how or why the teen had the sword.
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