The Alexandria Police Department has determined that the report of a woman being sexually assaulted last weekend is false and has charged the woman who reported it with making a false police report.
Rachelle Quarles, a 19-year-old resident of Washington, D.C., had reported that she was sexually and physically assaulted in the 300 block of South Whiting Street. She provided descriptions of two suspects.
Through further investigation, detectives interviewed witnesses and identified inconsistencies in Quarles’ account. Detectives determined no assault occurred and that Quarles’ report was untrue.
Quarles was arrested and released on a summons. Making a false police report is a class 1 misdemeanor, which carries a penalty of up to one year in jail and up to a $2,500 fine.
“Making a false report to the police is a very serious matter,” said Lt. John Crawford, a spokesperson for the Alexandria Police Department. “First of all, we take every report very seriously, particularly those that involve Part 1 or violent crimes.
"Also, when it is a crime that has not been solved, we need to make sure that we investigate the matter thoroughly because of the potential threat to others in the community. In this case, we called a public information officer in to handle the press release to notify the media and the public and a number of detectives worked on this case for the entire weekend. This investigation required untold hours of police work and caused anxiety in the community. The courts will now handle the matter.”