Decatur hospital security guard arrested for falsely reporting broken patrol vehicle window incident
DECATUR IL December 29 2018 — Police said a Decatur Memorial Hospital security officer who told police that someone shattered the back window of his work vehicle with a heavy object admitted to officers that he made the incident up.
The 20-year-old man was arrested Wednesday on a preliminary charge of disorderly conduct for filing a false report. He was released from the Macon County Jail after posting $1,000 bond on Thursday afternoon.
A signed affidavit said the man’s supervisor provided officers with surveillance footage that showed him backing the vehicle into a dumpster at DMH Corporate Health, 2122 N. 27th St., on Monday afternoon.
The footage also showed the man driving away from the scene after hitting the dumpster and later returning about five minutes later to inspect the damage.
When the man initially reported the incident to police on Monday, he said he was waiting at a red light at North Woodford Street and East Pershing Road and an unknown person threw an object at the vehicle. A police report said the man didn’t see who threw the object, and neither he nor an officer could find anything that would have caused the damage.
The man turned himself into police at 5:12 p.m. Wednesday after officers visited his address and told a resident that he was going to be arrested for filing a false report.
He told police that he made up the report because he was afraid that he would lose his job for hitting the dumpster, the affidavit said. The man said that he lost his job anyway because of the false report, the affidavit said.
Preliminary charges are subject to review by the Macon County State’s Attorney’s Office. The man is scheduled to be in court on Jan. 29.
Herald
