Northern California detectives say man falsely claimed he was carjacked and set on fire
Detectives in a rural Northern California county arrested a man who reportedly told investigators he was carjacked, robbed and set on fire by a group of assailants — an incident that authorities said never happened.
Aurelio Guzman-Hernandez, 33, was arrested on Thursday on a misdemeanor charge of filing a false police report, the Sutter County Sheriff’s Office announced in a news release.
Shortly before 11 p.m. on Dec. 7, Guzman-Hernandez called 911 to report his vehicle had been stolen. Sheriff’s officials have said he told authorities he was driving near Hutchinson Road and South George Washington Boulevard, just south of Yuba City, and he was flagged down by a woman next to a black SUV stopped on the side of the road.
Guzman-Hernandez claimed when he approached the woman to offer help, two men got out of the SUV. He told investigators one of the men appeared to be holding a gun while the other had a knife, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff’s officials said the firearm was later recovered but turned out to be a replica.
He told investigators the men zip-tied his legs, poured gasoline on him and set him on fire, sheriff’s officials have said. Guzman-Hernandez claimed he put out the fire by rolling on the ground. He also said the suspects stole his wallet and the vehicle, which was found abandoned several miles away.
Detectives said they completed a thorough investigation with help from an agent at the FBI’s Chico Field Office.
“They discovered there was no sufficient evidence the crime occurred,” sheriff’s officials said in the release. “Conversely, there was sufficient evidence the crime did not occur, and the crime had been falsely reported.”
No information was provided as to the motive behind the alleged false report.
