The University of Illinois Police Department announced that a reported robbery occurring around 11 p.m. on Thursday did not take place, but was fabricated by a University student who was later arrested for filing a false police report around 2 p.m. on Friday.

The false report claimed that the student was robbed at gunpoint outside of the Illini Union bookstore, and the purported offender “demanded cash and threw his cellphone on the ground, breaking it,” leading UIPD to issue an Illini-Alert, according to a UIPD press release. 

“The person who reported the crime told police that his account was fabricated, and he was consequently arrested for filing a police report,” said Alice Cary, UIPD police chief, in an email. 

According to the UIPD press release, the student made the false police report to account for his broken cell phone and was taken to the Champaign County Jail following his arrest.

Police discovered the report was false due to inconsistencies between the student’s narrative and security camera footage, according to Pat Wade, senior director of strategic communications for UIPD.

“(The student) indicated that he was at certain places at certain times,” Wade said. “And (detectives) went back to review those security cameras. The student’s story did not line up with the footage that we’re getting on the security cameras.” 

After reviewing the security camera footage, detectives began asking more questions, which led to the student admitting that the story was fabricated. 

“The places he said he was, we didn’t have images of him on the security cameras,” Wade said.

According to Wade, Illini-Alerts are issued as fast as possible after receiving any credible reports of crimes affecting students.

“Whenever we have new information we want our community to be aware of that so they have the best information available to protect themselves,” Wade said.

[email protected]

[email protected]