Charges have been filed against a woman accused of lying to police when reporting her car was stolen, claiming a child was inside.
According to court records, 42-year-old Jessica Denise Williams faces a false alarm or report charge after being arrested on Thanksgiving Day.
Houston Police Department Lt. Larry Crowson said after the woman reported her car stolen, she called back about an hour and a half later when police didn’t show up right away.
This time, Crowson said she claimed a 14-year-old child was taken with the car. Police showed up shortly after the second call.
“Anytime we’ve got a report someone is kidnapped, we take it seriously and try to put the proper resources on it,” Crowson told reporters on Thursday. “We checked with her relatives and found out the 14-year-old was actually a 30-year-old that was not in the car.”
Reporters were there when she was taken into custody, and tried to talk with her about her story just before. When asked about the kid, she appeared confused and said it was actually her deaf niece in the car.
According to Crowson, HPD has to prioritize calls, and on holidays, they’re short on staff.
The department has three tiers for dishing out officers to crimes and calls for service:
Priority 1 is for life-threatening emergencies, like an active shooter.
Priority 2 applies to things like life-threatening emergencies or in-progress property crimes.
Priority 3 is for a property crime or a life-threatening incident – both after the fact.
“She basically took her cousin’s name and made her 14 years old so we could search for the car more expeditiously,” Crowson added.
Williams remains behind bars as of Friday on a $5,000 bond.
She is expected to appear in court next week.