Paul DeMarco: Alabama leaders should work towards increasing penalties for false reporting of crimes
Both Alabama and the Nation have followed the case of Carlee Russell, the Hoover woman who has now been charged with deceiving the public and police by alleging she had been kidnapped. Hoover Police arrested her for two misdemeanor counts of false reporting to law enforcement authorities and falsely reporting an incident. Both are Class A misdemeanors punishable by not more than one year in jail and a fine of up to $6.000. Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office will be prosecuting Russell and will be seeking restitution from those that expended resources to search for her when she called 911, and it was feared that she had been abducted. But there is more to the story that has to be uncovered, and more importantly, Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis wants the penalties for the false reporting of a crime increased by state lawmakers. Alabama State Representatives and Senators should sit down with the Police Chief and Attorney General to determine how to enhance the criminal statutes to stiffen the penalties for those who misrepresent alleged crimes to public safety. The entire episode has the public frustrated and wanting a strong law to deter this from happening again. The next Alabama legislative session will be in six months, in February of 2024, but it is not too early to have a bill drafted and pre-filed. There should be bipartisan support to pass such a new law in Alabama based on recent events. Paul DeMarco is a former member of the Alabama House of Representatives and can be found on Twitter at @Paul_DeMarco.
Alabama authorities charge Carlee Russell for fabricating story about kidnapping, finding toddler
Authorities in Alabama said Friday they filed criminal charges against a woman who confessed to fabricating a story that she was kidnapped after stopping to check on a toddler she saw walking on the side of an interstate highway. Carlee Russell was charged with false reporting to law enforcement and falsely reporting an incident, both misdemeanors that carry up to a year in jail, Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis said. Russell turned herself in to jail Friday and was released on bond, he said. “Her decisions that night created panic and alarm for citizens of our city and even across the nation as concern grew that a kidnapper was on the loose using a small child as bait,” he said. “Numerous law enforcement agencies, both local and federal, began working tirelessly not only to bring Carlee home to her family but locate a kidnapper that we know now never existed. Many private citizens volunteered their time and energy in looking for a potential kidnapping victim that we know now was never in any danger.” Derzis said he was frustrated that Russell was only being charged with two misdemeanors despite the panic and disruption she caused, but he said the law did not allow for enhanced charges. Russell, 25, disappeared after calling 911 on July 13 to report a toddler wandering beside a stretch of interstate. She returned home two days later and told police she had been abducted and forced into a vehicle. Her disappearance became a national news story. Images of the missing woman were shared broadly on social media. “We don’t see this as a victimless crime,” Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said at a Friday news conference. “There are significant hours spent, resources expended as a result of this investigation.” Marshall’s office was asked to handle the prosecution because of the attention the case received, Derzis said. Marshall said he intends to “fully prosecute” Russell and said his office will take into account the police investigation to see whether additional charges are warranted. Russell, through her attorney, Emory Anthony, acknowledged earlier that she made the story up. In a statement read by police on Monday, Anthony said Russell was not kidnapped, did not see a baby on the side of the road, did not leave the city, and acted alone. He said Russell apologized, and he asked for prayers and forgiveness as she “addresses her issues and attempts to move forward, understanding that she made a mistake in this matter.” A message left Friday at Anthony’s office was not immediately returned. Russell told detectives she was taken by a man who came out of the trees when she stopped to check on the child, put in a car and an 18-wheel truck, was blindfolded, and was held at a home where a woman fed her cheese crackers, authorities said at a news conference last week. At some point, Russell said she was put in a vehicle again but managed to escape and run through the woods to her neighborhood. “This story opened wounds for families whose loved ones really were victims of kidnappings,” Derzis said. He said police have not determined where Russell went during the 49 hours she was missing. They plan to talk to the attorney general’s office about recovering some of the money spent on the investigation. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
Police cast doubt on Carlee Russell’s kidnapping claim after reporting toddler on an Alabama highway
Police in Alabama cast doubt Wednesday on the story of a woman who set off a frantic search when she disappeared for two days after calling 911 to report a toddler wandering on the highway. Carlee Russell told investigators she was abducted and forced into a car Thursday, but they have been unable to verify her account, police said. The 25-year-old’s return home Saturday prompted intense speculation about where she had been and what had happened to her. Carlee Russell’s mother, Talitha Russell, told NBC’s “Today” show on Tuesday that her daughter was abducted and fought for her life when she disappeared. But Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis cast doubt on that account at a news conference, saying detectives were still investigating her whereabouts, but had so far been “unable to verify most of Carlee’s initial statement.” She told detectives she was taken by a man who came out of the trees when she stopped to check on the child, put in a car and an 18-wheel truck, blindfolded, and held at a home where a woman fed her cheese crackers, Derzis said. At some point, Carlee Russell said she was put in a vehicle again but managed to escape and run through the woods to her neighborhood. In the days before her disappearance, she searched for information on her cellphone about Amber Alerts, a movie about a woman’s abduction and a one-way bus ticket from Birmingham, Alabama, to Nashville, Tennessee, departing the day she disappeared. Her phone also showed she traveled about 600 yards while telling a 911 operator she was following a 3- or 4-year-old child in a diaper on the side of the highway, Derzis said. She has not talked to investigators a second time. “I do think it’s highly unusual the day that someone gets kidnapped that seven or eight hours before that they’re searching the internet, Googling the movie ‘Taken’ about an abduction,” Derzis said. “I find that very, very strange.” Her family told police she was traumatized and not ready to talk again, he said. “As you can see, there are many questions left to be answered, but only Carlee can provide those answers,” he said, later adding, “We want to know the truth.” Talitha Russell told “Today” her daughter was not in a “good state” when she got back and needed medical care. She said her daughter gave detectives a statement so they could “continue to pursue her abductor.” “There were moments when she physically had to fight for her life, and there were moments when she had to mentally fight for her life,” Talitha Russell said. Police said Tuesday that detectives did not uncover any evidence of a toddler walking on the interstate. Surveillance video from the Russells’ neighborhood showed Carlee Russell walking down the sidewalk alone before arriving at her home. She was conscious and talking when first responders arrived, and later treated and released from a hospital, police said. Police have said Carlee Russell called a 911 operator Thursday night and then a relative and told both of them she saw a toddler in a diaper on the side of Interstate 459 and was stopping to check on him. Police played the 911 call at Wednesday’s news conference. When officers arrived at the location, they found her car, cell phone, and wig but were unable to find her or a child in the area. Talitha Russell told al.com last week that her daughter was headed home after leaving work and stopping to get food. Carlee Russell was on the phone with her brother’s girlfriend when they lost contact. “My son’s girlfriend heard her asking the child, ‘Are you OK?’ She never heard the child say anything, but then she heard our daughter scream,’’ Talitha Russell said. “From there, all you hear on her phone is background noise from the interstate.” A single witness reported possibly seeing a gray vehicle and a man standing outside Carlee Russell’s vehicle, police have said. Police said Tuesday that she also stopped for snacks on the way home, but none of the food was found in her car or with her cell phone and wig. Hoover is about 10 miles (16 kilometers) south of Birmingham. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
