(Spencer)– A Peterson man who claimed to be the victim of an armed robbery is in the Clay county jail, charged with filing a false report.
The Clay County Sheriff’s Office says it goes back to September 17th of this year when they received a report shortly after 6:00 that morning from 38-year-old Tommy Hartfield of Peterson. Hartfield called 911 and reported he had been robbed at gunpoint in the area of 470th Street and 130th Avenue about four miles north of Peterson. Hartfield at the time told investigators he had stopped to assist a female motorist standing by a vehicle. Hartfield claimed a man then got out of the car, walked behind him, said he had a gun, and placed it in Hartfield’s back. Hartfield said he was then robbed of 280-dollars in cash. He said the man and woman then left the scene.
Upon investigating, deputies found discrepancies in Hartfield’s claim, and upon a subsequent investigation, deputies say it became apparent Hartfield had made up the whole story.
Investigators then called Hartfield back in to the Sheriff’s Office this past Saturday. Assisted by Crime Scene and Statement Analysis officials, deputies secured a confession from Hartfield stating he made up the story for personal reasons.
Hartfield was then taken into custody and was booked into the Clay county jail on a charge of filing a false report…a serious misdemeanor.
In a written statement, Clay County Sheriff Randy Krukow says his office won’t take incidents such as this lightly, adding his office will seek charges against anyone making false claims to authorities. Krukow says his department spent more than 40 man hours on the investigation and that he plans to seek restitution against Hartfield.
