Columbia County Teenager Arrested for Making False Police Report

Many if not most people have heard of or read the classic story about 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf' and its overall emphasis on the importance of truth and honesty. It's a lesson in life everyone learns at some point in time and in some cases, people will learn lessons the hard way.

One Columbia County teenager is in the midst of learning that lesson and seeing it play out in real life, after she reportedly made a false police report to law enforcment.

Columbia County Teens False Report

This entire ordeal was divulged in a recent press release issued by the New York State Police. According to the release, it was on Thursday, June 5, 2025 that members of the State Police from the Livingston barracks responded to a 911 call for a possible kidnapping in the Town of Stockport.

The individual that made the call was a 16-year old teenage female, who claimed that a 13-year old had been abducted by unknown individuals. The release goes on to state that in the claim, the 13-year old was taken away in a white van that was allegedly on Atlantic Avenue.

In response to the claim, State Troopers as well as members of the Livingston Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, immediately initiated a search for the alleged vehicle. The search and investigation were described as being "extensive", however, no vehicle was found, nor was any 13-year old girl.

Police would continue their investigation, which included follow-up interviews with the 16-year old caller who made the original report. These follow-up interviews would lead to the reveal that the kidnapping report was a fabrication.

False Report Dangers and Charges

False or fabricated reports made to law enforcment actually is and can be quite the serious issue. One of the main reasons for this is because a false report takes law enforcement away from existing cases or delays law enforcement from attending to legitimate calls made by other citizens in need.

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Another reason is that a false report can potentially lead to the damage of trust and credibility for members of law enforcment, but also for other civilians. While it did not happen in this instance, imagine if an innocent person was arrested on a false claim. A false arrest could lead to reputational damage for an innocent person theoretically.

For police officers and other law enforcement how they do their job is dependent on the information they have at their disposal being as correct and accurate as possible. Law enforcement working off of incorrect, inaccurate or false information for any case they are handling can lead to damage of law enforcements credibility, reputation and of public trust.

There is of course the most obvious of reasons why a false police report is such an issue and it's that it's a crime. Not only is it a crime, but depending on the severity it can  be charged as either a misdemeanor or a felony.

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For the matters of this particular case, the 16-year old was arrested and charged with Falsely Reporting an Incident in the Third Degree, an A misdemeanor. She was also issued a Family Court appearance ticket, returnable to Columbia County Family Court on June 17, 2025, at 9:00a.m.

The press release concluded with the message that there is no ongoing threat to the community.