Stamford Police: Woman Falsely Reported Kidnapping, Rape

STAMFORD, CT - A Stamford woman is facing charges after she falsely reported an ex-boyfriend kidnapped and raped her.

According to police, the suspect was arrested Dec. 8 by the Stamford Police Special Victims Unit who obtained an arrest warrant charging her in connection with the report she filed with police on Nov. 7.

Mercedes Irizarry, 25, was charged with falsely reporting an Incident and interfering with police.

Police say that on Nov. 7, Irizarry claimed that she was kidnapped by knifepoint on Adams Avenue by her ex-boyfriend and an accomplice. She claimed they drove her against her will to an apartment on Ursula Place where she was sexually assaulted and held against her will overnight, police said. On the next morning she claimed she escaped through a bathroom window where she ran to a friend’s home and called police.

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After SVU officers investigated her claim and took a signed sworn statement regarding the events she claimed, “a warrant was fast-tracked due to the severity of a domestic kidnapping and sexual assault incident. When SVU Officers went to locate the ex-boyfriend they learned that he was deported two years ago to Colombia,” police said in a statement.

“Officers confirmed this with Homeland Security and through other investigative techniques. Furthermore, the officers discovered video in the area contradicting her claim of being traumatized and held against her will,” police said.

Police said, “With this evidence we had enough evidence that her claims were falsified and we conferred with the States Attorney’s Office to apply for a warrant.”

Police also said, “This arrest was necessary to maintain the validity of true victims coming forward. The SVU Office handles many true victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. Irizarry’s actions play right against what victims fear and that the police will not take their complaint seriously. Our department urges all victims to feel free to come forward and this one incident will not fray our beliefs in investigating all claims of Domestic abuse to the fullest.”

Irizarry was held on a $25,000 bond.