By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The BGSU student who reported being assaulted and called racial slurs last week has been charged with falsification and obstructing official business.
The student, Eleesha Long, 24, had reported that she was assaulted by three white males, Nov. 9, on a sidewalk in the first block of Crim Street, near campus. But an investigation by Bowling Green Police Division has resulted in Long being charged with filing a bogus report.
“Her statements changed several times,” Police Lt. Dan Mancuso said Thursday afternoon. The details Long gave detectives varied on the location and the time of the incident. During one interview, she said it occurred in the morning as she was picking up political signs, and later she said it occurred at night as she was coming home from a bar, Mancuso said.
“There were completely different statements as to what had happened,” he said.
Police used text messages on Long’s cell phone plus information from cell phone towers in their investigation. “She was not where she said she was,” Mancuso said.
Long was contacted by BG Independent News, but declined to answer any questions about the charges.
Mancuso said false reports cause the police division to spend time needlessly on a crime that didn’t occur. “It wastes a lot of the investigators’ time, when they could be following up on actual complaints.”
The assault accusation also created an uproar in the Bowling Green community, since Long reported that rocks were thrown at her by three males, who surrounded her, called her the “N” word and said they were “making America great again.” She said one of the males struck her in the face.
“It also causes problems in the community,” Mancuso said. “It causes fear in the community.”
Long’s accusation also put BGSU in the spotlight, with students accusing university officials of not releasing alerts about the assault. During a town hall meeting held earlier this week, university officials explained they notified students of the alleged assault as soon as they were able to talk with Long about the incident. Long initially reported the incident on Facebook, and filed a police report only after BGSU officials spoke with her.
When asked by police why she posted the incident on Facebook, but did not contact police, Long said she did not think anyone else had witnessed the attack and it would have been her word against their word, according to the police report. The officer in the initial interview observed red bruising on the right side of her neck and some redness on her right cheek.
The police canvassed the Crim Street area, speaking with five residents who live in the block that the incident reportedly occurred. All were home at the time of the alleged attack, but had not heard or seen anything, the report stated.
While filing her statement with police, Long gave detailed descriptions of the three males she said attacked her, including details about one missing a tooth, one wearing a Fox brand hoodie, and another wearing an Insane Clown Posse shirt.
Her texts to family and friends list different details, including descriptions of the three men wearing “Trump” shirts. Her texts to family and friends also state the she was at the hospital with police right after the incident, which was not the case. The texts also express anger over Donald Trump winning the presidential election.
Long “knowingly made false statements to multiple law enforcement officials with purpose to mislead, or possibly incriminate another person or persons, knowing that her statements were made in an official proceeding,” the police stated.
“Long also, with purpose to prevent, obstruct, or delay the performance of a public official by making those false statements caused the delay of the investigation of an alleged assault,” the police statement said. “Due to the high level of hate, publicity, and charge surrounding the City of Bowling Green with the post election results, officers tasked with following up on a crime that did not occur based on Long’s statements were forced to delay legitimate incidents thereby hampering and impeding law enforcement officials in the performance of their lawful duties.”
Both charges against Long are misdemeanors that have possible jail time, according to Mancuso.
