Police say Mebruer said she was lying on the couch in the living room of her apartment about 10:30 on Monday night, April 28. She said she had left her patio door open and a man entered her apartment and assaulted her by punching her in the eye and cutting off her clothes. She said she fought off the man by punching him and hitting him in the groin until he left.

According to a detective's probable cause statement filed with the charge, the detective "reviewed the evidence and Mebruer's account of what happened. Several aspects of her account were inconsistent with the evidence and interviews with neighbors and witnesses."

Ten days after she reported the assault, the detective wrote, "during an interview at police headquarters Mebruer said she fabricated the story and staged the crime scene in her apartment. Mebruer said she was not a victim of assault and there was no intruder in her apartment."

Mebruer lives at Lake Shore Apartments at 3660 S. Cox Road. After her assault report, apartment complex managers distributed a warning letter to residents, telling them to be careful about being outside alone and to lock their doors and windows when they were home. Police said they spent dozens of hours trying to find the attacker.