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An attempted kidnapping and purse snatching reported to police last week turned out to be a false alarm — and a false report, according to a news release by the Pleasanton police department.
Jennifer Flores, 23, claimed she and her infant son were the target of an attack on May 16. Flores was arrested at about 3 p.m. today for filing a false police report, a misdemeanor. She was booked into Santa Rita Jail after police took her into custody at her job in Dublin.
Flores originally claimed two black men jumped her at about 6:20 p.m. near the bus stop on the south side of West Las Positas Boulevard, west of Santa Rita Road. She told police one of the men pushed her down and grabbed her purse while the other tried to make off with her baby in a stroller, abandoning it — and the infant — when it tipped over.
Police spent hours investigating the case because of its serious nature. As the investigation progressed, however, they became suspicious of the information they’d been given.
“A significant part of the investigation focused on the information that was provided by the victim,” the release states. “As detectives spent more time with Flores, they discovered several major inconsistencies in her statement.”
In fact, police found surveillance video of Flores leaving her purse at Domino’s Pizza in Pleasanton about an hour before she reported the robbery.
The video also showed the purse with Domino’s employees the same time period Flores said the crime took place, and video from the next day showed her returning to the store to recover the purse she claimed had been stolen.
“Even after Flores recovered her purse from Domino’s she continued to lie to detectives and perpetuate the false report of a robbery and attempted kidnapping of her infant son,” the release states.
After Flores was taken into custody, a search turned up the property she’d reported as stolen.
“Flores finally admitted she fabricated the entire story and there was no truth to what she had reported,” the release says.
She was booked at Santa Rita Jail with a $10,000 bail. Filing a false police report carries up to six months in jail.
The Pleasanton police department spent about $2,980.00 in staff time and resources investigating Flores’ claim. The Alameda County District Attorney will ask that Flores be ordered to reimburse the department for its expenses.
Just as I suspected. This robbery/kidnapping story smelled funny all along.
Let us consider this: “The Pleasanton police department spent about $2,980.00 in staff time and resources investigating Flores’ claim. The Alameda County District Attorney will ask that Flores be ordered to reimburse the department for its expenses.”
Such costs, combined with inflated salaries, disability insurance, pensions, and medical benefits clearly underscore that a Big Tsunami is going to hit us. Our revenues cannot catch up to all these costs, unless, that is, the economy changes. But it rarely does. So it’s best to make Big claims about the city’s future state without taking changes into account. This, in my humble estimation, would then be a preferred first step, akin to handing out life preservers in the face of an onrush of water that will respect no limits. There is no sense in talking about anything else until we rightly conclude that the biggest tsunami in the entire world is going to hit unless we do something about overpaid public workers.
This is someone crying out for help – doesn’t know how or where to get it. Those close to her need to step up and help her get what she needs. Could be post partum depression or any number of things. Please get an evaluation, even if it’s from jail!
I smelled a rat from the start. I knew IF this had been true, and the location of where this supposedly occurred someone would have to have seen something and would have helped in some way. Nobody is going to let a baby be turned over in a stroller and not come to their aid.
Sad that someone would make up such a story and attempt to blame innocent people.
A baby does need a mother. Hopefully, the mother will receive a thorough evaluation. Maybe she is unable to care for her baby?
I agree with Sue. Because of the severity of the “crime” the police would have justifiably been anxious to catch the perpetrators and anything could’ve happened… they see two African American men walking together, try to make stop, someone moves the wrong way, someone gets hurt… hypothetical but possible… all because of this false report. Throw the book at her.
I hope all the ignorant and racist posters from the original story who called out people of color as thugs, etc eat their words. What’s done in the dark will come to light.
To my sanctimonius friend, Resident, get over your smugness. If you were walking down Santa Rita rd. at nighttime and two large black men approached you, tell me you wouldn’t change your direction or quake in fear.
‘What’s done in the dark will come to light’. I hear detectives in Oakland say that all the time………….
Unbelievable…both the story and the sad, racist right wing nuts who jump on every news item that happens whether in Pleasanton, the Tri Valley, California or the USA to jabber on, etc etc
We should not lose sight of the amount of tax payer money that was spent on this matter, made even higher because of unionized public workers making far higher salaries than are necessary, with ridiculously high medical benefits and out of sight pensions. That noise you hear is that of a tsunami, a Big tsunami, roaring down streets and avenues, unimpeded because we’ve sold the farm to finance the new political class, public workers. Look, too, at Calpers and Calstrs. I rest my case.
some folks are waaaaaaaay nasty and talk about throwing a book but what does that mean?
I commented when this was first reported that the story made no sense and the police would find out the truth. Now I’d like to put in my two cents that the child should be placed with responsible relatives of the mother (or CPS) until this woman is given a psychiatric evaluation and background check to ensure the child will be safe.
This unfortunate incident (false report) generated the most racist and ignorant comments that I think I’ve seen in a local story. There is either one ignorant person who has too much time on their hands and is doing multiple postings (PW would know), or P-Town needs some soul searching.
What I’d like to know is how the police estimate personnel and resource costs and what their specific rates are. Three grand seems like an awful lot of money for a chat, some digital photos of the alleged crime scene and a few phone calls.
Mike
Besides repaying the City, I hope she has to repay the jail, too. And district attorney fees in processing her case.
hey mike, best not to open your mouth when you have no idea what you’re talking about. you realize that when this liar originally reported the “crime”, that probably most, if not all of the on-duty personnel searched for the “suspects” for probably an hour? that right there is about 6-7 man hours. neighborhood canvas after the initial search. there’s about 2-3 man hours. then you have the initial interview, which of course is delayed because she can’t speak english, so that was probably 2-3 hours. then you have the initial officer’s report writing time, which of course leads to supervisor review of the report. chalk up another 3-4 hours. now the follow up begins. another interview of the “victim” with the subsequent supplemental report. 2-3 hours. detective follow up with phone calls and or visits to neighboring businesses (which is probably how they found the footage at domino’s). 3-4 hours. now that the “victim’s” story is starting to fall apart, another interview is needed. 2-3 hours. each of these events triggers another supplemental report. the previous was a conservative estimate of the time they probably spent. now you consider that they probably estimate the hourly wage of a police officer at around $100 with benefits.
need me to also do the math for you mike?
Willie, change your name to something not quite so lewd and disrespectful of other posters, and perhaps we might have a conversation. Until then, please continue adding up your overtime. What are you going to do after the tsunami hits? There won’t be any overtime then, I can assure you.
Thanks Mike! for the question. Considering that the “Press” is our principal source of information…and Willie happens to be the Community reporter answering the question…easy on the citizen, Willie. It was a valid question…IMO
Ms Florez should have to ‘pay’ for her ‘crime’, it would help her remember fraud is a crime. Honesty if the best policy.
Pete, had mike asked a genuine question, i would have answered in kind. as it was, his “question” was filled with innuendo and was very dismissive of the police department’s efforts.
You call yourself Truth, yet you seem not to want to deal with the real facts that are swirling every which way in response to the vortex-created winds raging today because police, fire, and all the lowlier public servants have hoodwinked us. More specifically, police should know better than to invest so many manhours into a case that any reasonable person would have known was phony from the get-go. Two young African-American males? C’mon. We don’t have that demographic in Pleasanton. Our diversity isn’t cultural but rather economic. Some people go to Hawaii, others go to Sweden for their vacations. But when is the last time someone saw two African-American males hoofing it down any Pleasanton street?
Now, that said, it is only logical that the police spent so much time and expense on the story because it was a concerted effort to increase hours, and especially overtime, because that is usually what the union directs them to do. And as a consequence, we are about to drown in an enormous deluge of debt brought about by our good overtime working police of Pleasanton, among others.
Willie,
Thanks bunches for your post. You helped clarify the situation.
One hundred dollars an hour plus benefits paid to people for chatting, taking a few pictures of an alleged crime scene and making a few phone calls seems like pretty poor resource utilization.
I’m wondering if we couldn’t do better by having people significantly lower on the pay scale doing this type of work while reserving the higher salary personnel for tasks that require more than minimum-wage skills.
Again, thanks!
Mike
Arnold…your stupidity knows no bounds…and now let’s add racist to your list of achievements….your a tool. Answer one question….other than posting on a blog with limited readership, what are you doing to prevent your predictions?
Truth,
Although I do much I wish to keep private, I spend my time as I see fit. I develop inflated numbers based on fluctuations in the market, then try to create fear in lesser informed people. This tactic has been employed for generations by politicians and start up grass root clubs. It’s obviously working.
mike (i can’t believe i’m responding to this dimwit again),
first of all, reading comprehension must not be your strong suit. i said $100 WITH benefits, not PLUS benefits. big difference. my second grader learned math word problems earlier this year, maybe next year you could sit in on a 2nd grade class when they’re going over that material.
now to your latest uninformed post…
so you want minimum wage personnel interviewing victims and witnesses? you want them asking the types of questions that could ultimately decide whether or not a crime gets charged? you want minimum wage personnel deciding what they think is important enough to photograph, which again, could make or break your case.
look up the crime clearance rates of police departments in this state. pleasanton has one of the highest clearance rates of any city in the state. that’s not by accident and it’s not because they use minimum wage personnel to investigate crimes.
as i type this, i honestly can’t believe that you truly believe the BS you typed. PLEASE. call the pleasanton police department and give them your address. tell them you wish to have the minimum amount of service possible should you ever be the victim of a crime. tell them of your sense of civic and fiscal responsibility that dictate they only do the bare minimum when investigating. maybe make the suggestion that they seek the help of criminal justice students at las positas and let them work your case for unit credit.
It will be interesting to see what the motive for this might have been. Six months in jail would be an unfortunate outcome for anyone with an infant son.