A 24-year-old Vineland woman who was found running naked on the streets of Bridgeton earlier this month has been charged with filing a false report of being sexually assaulted.
Nicole M. Lockhart was charged with filing a false report and lewdness Monday, after police determined her story of being raped at gunpoint May 7 was not factual, police said in a release.
"Through investigation it was determined the victim was not sexually assaulted at gunpoint and had not provided the initial officers with any truthful information at the time the incident was reported," Det. Lt. Michael Gaimari said in a release. "There is a lot of time and effort put into these investigations, in addition to the possibility of falsely questioning and/or incriminating possible suspects. It's a matter of accountability for those actions."
Lockhart was found naked at 5 a.m. on Washington Street by a newspaper deliveryman. She told police she had just gotten off an NJ Transit bus and was walking in an alley between Bank and North Pearl streets a gunman ordered her to remove her clothes and sexually assaulted her.
Contact Joel Landau:
609-272-7215
