Full Notification

ROBBERY REPORT A HOAX
Rockton Police made an arrest in the armed robbery reported last Friday where a man said he was robbed by three teens while changing a tire on Illinois Route 2 in Rockton. The person arrested was the alleged victim, Joshua Reuter He was taken to the Winnebago County Criminal Justice Center for filing a false police report.

He was arrested after he was confronted with gaps in his story and information that surfaced on his whereabouts before the alleged robbery took place. He admitted that he wasn’t really robbed but had stopped along the road to look at a tire, he passed out from some medication he had taken and rolled down the embankment. When he came around, he noticed a red car with three teens driving by and when he got back to his car it appeared to have been ransacked so he fabricated the story.

“With all the violence in the surrounding communities lately, things like this cause public fear and our officers worked diligently to solve the case” said Rockton Chief of Police Steve Dickson. “It turns out to be a fabrication which I’m thankful for but angry at the same time, for the fear and it caused and the time and effort my officers spent on this” Dickson said.

End

All persons are assumed innocent until proven guilty.