Police find inconsistencies in story

By Scott Bellile

New London police cited a man for obstructing officers after concluding his story didn’t line up regarding a robbery at gunpoint outside America’s Best Value Inn.

According to the police report:

On April 25, a 36-year-old from Salt Lake City, Utah, told police he was standing outside the hotel when a car flashed its headlights at him. A man he had previously seen at the hotel stepped out of the passenger seat and pointed what appeared to be a .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol at him.

He said the robber took $300 from him and drove off in a green Honda toward Walgreens.

The complainant identified a 21-year-old man by name as the robber. He said the two had shared a cigarette a week earlier. He said he learned the suspect’s name from others at the hotel based on a description of the robber he gave them.

When police asked the complainant to come to the police station for further questioning, he refused.

Security footage showed the complainant searching for the suspect at the Rainbow Motel one hour prior to calling police. When an officer asked why he wandered the motel looked for his armed robber before calling police, he responded because he wished to talk to the suspect’s father about the incident and he believed the father lived there.

On April 26, New London police questioned the suspect, who was living at the Clintonville Motel. They were familiar with him from an arrest at the Rainbow Motel a month earlier.

When police asked the suspect what he was doing the night before, he said he was hanging out with the complainant and they actually know each other.

Upon being told by police he was a suspect in a robbery, the man reportedly got flustered and said his parents would vouch for him being home in Clintonville all day. He was transferred to Waupaca County jail.

As the suspect was being questioned, police questioned the complainant again at the hotel. He now said he wasn’t sure who robbed him.

On April 28, the complainant “was back peddling more than the previous times” during another interview. He said maybe the weapon wasn’t a gun, he wasn’t sure who his robber was and he didn’t want to pursue the investigation further. He said he had misspoken about the incident in the heat of the moment on April 25.

The owner of America’s Best Value Inn and a guest told police in interviews the complainant and the suspect were actually good friends.
Police closed the complaint on April 28 based on inconsistencies in the complainant’s stories along with his desire to not pursue it further.

Officers arrested the complainant on May 5. When police told him witnesses said the two men were friends, the complainant denied it. He was cited for obstructing/resisting officers and ordered to appear in municipal court on May 11.

The Press Star isn’t including his name at this time as he hasn’t been charged in circuit court.