Suspended WABC 7 weather anchor Heidi Jones is taking issue with reports that she falsely claimed she was nearly raped. Jones was arrested for filing a false police report, and both the Post and Daily News have spoken to police sources who say that she claimed she was grabbed by a Hispanic man while running in Central Park—a man who later stalked her. But Jones' lawyer said, "The press accounts that say she alleged rape or attempted rape are inaccurate."
Jones' lawyer did not say what Jones told cops, but the loose narrative—based on the Post's and News' stories—seems to be this: In late November, Jones claimed she was nearly attacked in Central Park on September 21. She also allegedly said her would-be attacker found her a few days earlier (on November 21) and threatened her—and she allegedly said that she tried to tell police about the attack in September, but cops refused to take her report.
A police source tells the News that cops spent hours on investigating the report, surveillance, and escorting Jones but she admitted she made up the story, possibly because she wanted some attention while working through personal and professional issues.
The News' Joanna Molloy is upset with Jones for wasting cops' time AND brings in a weather pun: "The police believed you, too, and spent hours trying to track down some Hispanic bogeyman. New York detectives are the fastest in the country: It took them about half an hour to nail the suspect in the Soho House death. Do you realize how many cases they could have worked on in that time? Your lawyer, Paul Callan, says everyone should "remember the presumption of innocence and to wait for resolution of this matter in a court of law." Okay, but whatever happens, the forecast for you is stormy."
