Shreveport Police Dept.

Date: Mar 31, 2009

Phone: (318) 525-5066 Fax: (318) 673-6933

Contact: Cpl. Bill Goodin, Public information Officer

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Shreveport Police investigate alleged hate crime, arrest suspect for filing a false police report

Shreveport Police have arrested a local man after he filed a false report to officers that he was the victim of a hate crime.

On March 27, 2009 at approximately 4:00 a.m., Shreveport police officers responded out to the 3000 block of Mackey Ln. relative to a stabbing. The victim, 31 year old Curtis Franklin, told officers that he had been awakened by his dog and as he went to let the dog out, he observed a black male suspect under his carport. Franklin advised officers that the black male suspect was spray painting a racial slur on the hood of his vehicle and as he confronted the suspect, the suspect stabbed him in the abdomen.

Franklin was transported to LSUHSC by the Shreveport Fire Department. Detectives canvassed the neighborhood and began an in-depth investigation. During the course of this investigation, investigators uncovered inconsistencies in the victim’s story. Franklin eventually admitted to detectives that he was not telling the truth and that there had been no black male suspect. Detectives subsequently issued Franklin a misdemeanor summons for criminal mischief. Criminal mischief, a misdemeanor which covers filing a false police report, is punishable by a fine of not more than $500 or imprisonment of not more than 6 months, or both.

Shreveport Police Chief Henry Whitehorn commented, “We take the report of a hate crime very seriously. Our detectives work tirelessly investigating crimes of this nature and when the victim lies about what occurred, it makes our job just that much harder and is a waste of valuable police resources.”

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View all SPD press releases at www.shreveportla.gov