'Armed Carjacking' At Towson Town Center Was False Report: Police

TOWSON, MD — Police said that a woman who reported an armed carjacking at Towson Town Center this week is being charged with filing a false report. The 46-year-old Parkville woman was not identified by name.

Police said that the woman's story changed over time. Initially, she said she was about to get in her car upon leaving the mall when two men demanded her keys, and she gave them her purse instead; later, she said the suspects pointed a gun at her and demanded money, officials reported.

Surveillance footage disproved both stories, according to police. Video showed the woman driving into the parking lot at Towson Center around 5:40 p.m. on Nov. 14 but not actually getting out of her vehicle, police said.

Upon leaving the mall, the woman pulled into a lot across the street and called police, telling them that she had been robbed by two people wearing ski masks.

A helicopter, K-9 officers and additional patrols were summoned to canvass the area for suspects, according to police.

After she filed the report, police said that Towson University alerted students to a crime in the area and cautioned students to be vigilant.

Officials said it was not clear why the woman made the false report, and they are in the process of filing charges against her. Investigators said that the woman had become uncooperative with detectives.

File photo courtesy of Elizabeth Janney.