St. John’s, Michigan, police on Thursday arrested a 20-year-old woman who, three days earlier, claimed she was the victim of an attack on a popular walking trail, the Lansing State Journal reports.
Madison Mackenzie Wright faces two felony charges of false report of a felony, say St. John’s police, who determined her story “did not align with evidence accumulated to substantiate her statements.” Wright’s bond was set at $5,000.
Wright told police she was walking alone on the Fred Meijer Clinton-Ionia-Shiawassee Trail just after midnight on Monday “when she was confronted by two male subjects who approached her from a wooded area north of the trail.”
Wright said the men tried to grab her and added that one slashed at her with a pocketknife. She described the men as 6-foot tall, thin, wearing black hooded sweatshirts, black pants, and Black skin.
“Always trying to blame our men,” wrote one commenter on X. “So much for believing all women.”
Wright reported the attack 12 minutes after she alleged it had happened. In a statement, St. John’s police said officers searched the area at 1:05 a.m., about 45 minutes after Wright claimed the incident occurred. They found no one.
A follow-up investigation confirmed Wright had not been truthful, said police, who warned the public against believing everything they read on social media.
“The St. Johns Police Department would like to assure the community that the safety of the City is a fundamental priority,” police said in a statement. “The inaccurate and speculative social media posts related to this incident resulted in significant concerns for the community. The Department urges residents to rely on information issued by the Department, which will be distributed in a timely and situationally appropriate manner.”
Police added extra patrols to the trail after Wright’s claim. The next day, a woman posted on Facebook that her niece’s friend had been attacked by “three guys with knives” and “was lucky and got away but was beat up and very traumatized.”
That post caused plenty of angst and some accusations that St. John’s police weren’t keeping the public properly informed.
One woman commented, “And we feel so safe in our little town. It can happen anywhere.”
St. John’s residents were understandably upset when they learned the report was false.
“Can she get additional time added for adding that dash of racism into her false report?” wrote one woman.
Summing up the case, one man commented, “Ok now. Take your guns home, put away the pitchforks and torches, and wait for the real facts, till you all want to throw the SJPD under the bus. When something that appears to be serious often it may very well be. Investigations obviously bring out the truth. This young lady needs some help and I hope she gets what is ever needed to put her on track in life.”
