WEST OCEAN CITY — A Pennsylvania woman was charged with making a false report to a police officer this week after making up a phony story about being attacked and robbed in a West Ocean City shopping center parking lot because she was embarrassed and afraid to tell her husband she had lost the money at the Casino at Ocean Downs.
Around 1 p.m. on Monday, a woman, later identified as Roxanne Mae Donnelly, 57, of Lancaster, Pa., walked into a jewelry store in the Tanger Outlets in West Ocean City and claimed she had been attacked in the parking lot.
Detectives from the Worcester County Bureau of Investigation (WCBI) arrived and spoke with Donnelly, who claimed she had been attacked from behind, physically assaulted and robbed of the $250 that had been in her handbag. After speaking with Donnelly, it became apparent to detectives her story did not make sense.
A check with the Casino at Ocean Downs revealed Donnelly had spent the exact amount she had reported stolen just prior to the time she claimed she had been attacked. When confronted, Donnelly admitted she had invented the story because she was embarrassed to tell her husband she had spent all their money.