Chief Scott: Lack of video evidence proved lie
When her co-worker’s girlfriend discovered them together, Heather Atkins, 26, ended up with a black eye.
Columbia police said the woman allegedly assaulted Atkins and the male co-worker early Friday morning. But the story Atkins told investigators two days later turned her from a victim into an alleged criminal.
On Sunday, Atkins told police that she had been walking alone in Five Points around 3 a.m. Friday when she was punched in the face. Two black men then carried her behind Harper’s Restaurant, where one sat on her shoulders and held her down while the other sexually assaulted her, she said. The second man also took $120 in cash as well as a $1,200 camera before pulling Atkins’ driver’s license out of her wallet and saying, “I know where you live now. If you tell the police, I will kill you,” while pulling up his shirt to expose a black semi-automatic pistol tucked into his waistband, according to Atkins’ story.
After going to police on Sunday, Atkins was treated at Palmetto Health Richland. Police contacted Carey Shealy, president of Statewide Security, and reviewed hours of videotape trying to find the incident on camera, but nothing was found, according to police Chief Randy Scott.
After the tapes delivered no leads, Atkins was brought in by police to be interviewed again. Scott said that officers canvassed the area of the alleged assault and robbery and spoke with Atkins’ friends and co-workers.
After three days of investigation, police discovered that Atkins’ story was an elaborate lie.
She confessed to investigators on Tuesday night that the entire report had been made up because she was “too embarrassed to tell the truth,” Scott said at a Wednesday press conference.
Atkins has been charged with filing a false police report and giving false information to the police, both felony charges.
“She lied to the City of Columbia Police Department, she lied to her family, she lied to the public and she broke the trust of the people around her,” Scott said.
Scott said that he decided to hold the press conference because of the traction Atkins’ story was getting on Facebook and the many calls his office had been getting about the incident.
“The City of Columbia law enforcement as a whole takes sexual assault very seriously, and this hurts the whole community that this allegation was made, and that’s why she was arrested,” Scott said. “This in itself is something that really breaks the trust and further puts a fear of violence in our community that is not there.”
This incident is especially significant due to the recent concern over safety in Five Points, Executive Director of the Five Points Association Merritt McHaffie said, noting that the lack of footage supporting Atkins’ story helped police discover the truth.
“One thing that is positive about this is that if anyone wants to piggyback on the media sensation that has been surrounding Five Points lately with a false story, our cameras will prove it’s a lie,” McHaffie said. “Video cameras proved that this girl was lying. You can’t do or not do something in Five Points without us being able to see it on camera.”
McHaffie said that since the Five Points Association had the Statewide Security cameras installed two years ago, “about eight out of 10” crimes committed in the hospitality district have been solved, many with help from these cameras. She said visitors will soon be made even more aware of the surveillance employed to keep them safe.
“Within the next week or so, there will be signs and stickers all over Five Points that say ‘Have fun, be safe, cameras are watching for your safety,’ to let everybody understand that they are being watched and that we’re not going to put up with this stuff,” McHaffie said. “We’re not going to put up with crimes and we’re not going to put up with false crimes.”