Phony Palatine Forest Preserve Stabbing Leads to Criminal Charges

A 33-year-old Des Plaines woman was charged with filing a false police report after claiming she was stabbed while in a Forest Preserve area near Palatine, Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart said Monday.

On Nov. 29, Veronica Klicka reported that she was stabbed while walking along a trail in the Deer Grove East Forest Preserve area. She had an apparent stab wound and was taken to an area hospital for treatment.

But Sheriff’s Police detectives learned she had injured herself with a knife. She fabricated the story someone had stabbed her because she believed she was not supposed to be in possession of any weapons following court-ordered supervision for DUI.

Klicka was arrested on Dec. 5 and charged with disorderly conduct – false report of an offense, a class 4 felony.