A local woman was arrested Monday on a felony charge for allegedly lying to Hot Springs police about being sexually assaulted last week.
Lauren Nicole "Nicci" Hale, 31, who lists an address of 304 Trivista Right, was taken into custody around 12:30 p.m. Monday and was charged with filing a false report with law enforcement, punishable by up to six years in prison.
She was later released on $2,500 bond and is set to appear Sept. 30 in Garland County District Court.
According to the affidavit, on Sept. 10, shortly before 8:30 p.m., Hale was reportedly found lying in the creek in Hollywood Park, located at 411 Hollywood Ave., after she flagged down two witnesses who were walking by and claimed she was abducted at gunpoint and sexually assaulted.
HSPD officers and LifeNet responded to the scene and the victim was transported to National Park Medical Center where a sexual assault kit was collected by nurses and hospital staff.
The next day, Hale came to the police department and gave a statement to detectives indicating she was abducted at gunpoint from the parking lot of Family Dollar, 3341 Central Ave., and taken to the location in Hollywood Park where she was sexually assaulted and robbed of $300 by unknown assailants.
Detectives reviewed video from Family Dollar and investigated her story further and couldn't find any evidence she had been at the store at the times she indicated.
It was also discovered Hale had been at Oaklawn Park in the gaming area on Sept. 10 around 8 p.m., where she spent $280. She left the parking lot there and headed north on Central toward the area of Hollywood Park.
Hale returned to the police department Monday to discuss the case further and was confronted with the inconsistencies in her story and the evidence showing she was not where she had claimed to be.
She allegedly admitted to fabricating the story and driving herself to Hollywood Park and crawling out of the creek when she heard people walking by.
The affidavit notes that because of the resources and time that were unnecessarily wasted by police, LifeNet and hospital personnel dealing with the situation and because Hale's original claims involved what would have been felony charges, she was charged with a felony count of filing a false report.
Local on 09/17/2014