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Graduation, times two
Toll road proposal released
Quilt and Button Show: Seeing history, artwork
in textiles
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Woman recants rape story, arrested on a prior charge |
Diana Vonrekowski admits to police she fabricated
the story she was raped in April on Everest Street |
By Gary Allen,
Newberg Graphic news editor
E-mail Gary at gallen@eaglenewspapers.com
|
An 18-year-old Newberg woman who alleged she was assaulted and raped
April 18 has admitted to police she fabricated the story.
Diana Vonrekowski was arrested Saturday on a Yamhill County warrant
for failure to appear on charges she stole cash from a Safeway store
in Newberg. During Saturday’s arrest, according to a release from
the Newberg Police Department, Vonrekowski admitted to officers she
concocted the story of the assault in the 400 block of Everest
Street. She did not offer a reason for the fabrication, said Deputy
Chief Brian Casey.
After her revelation, Vonrekowski was charged with initiating a
false police report and resisting arrest after she tried to slap an
officer as he was trying to handcuff her.
Casey said statements Vonrekowski made during interviews didn’t
match evidence gathered by police, leading detectives to interview
her a second time after her arrest on the warrant. It was then that
she recanted her story.
Vonrekowski’s allegations prompted an intense police investigation,
Casey said, including dozens of hours of canvassing the neighborhood
by officers.
“(They were) investigating a case that never happened, so it was a
complete and total waste of time,” Casey said.
In addition to the cost of collecting DNA samples in order to rule
out suspects, an artist was paid to create a sketch of the suspect,
who Vonrekowski identified as a man in his 20s with sores on his
face. She said the man walked toward her late on the night of April
18, pushing her back into her car, assaulting and raping her before
fleeing on foot. Vonrekowski was treated at Providence Newberg
Hospital for minor injuries.
The charges against Vonrekowski amount to a Class C misdemeanor,
Casey said, although she could also be charged with disorderly
conduct for initiating a false alarm.
Vonrekowski was charged with first- and second-degree theft in the
theft case, but missed her court date, said Ladd Miles, a Yamhill
County deputy district attorney assigned to her case. Miles said he
hasn’t reviewed the charge of initiating a false police report filed
by Newberg police Saturday, and therefore couldn’t comment if
additional charges were pending.
Casey said the story of Vonrekowski’s assault had people asking
questions of their neighborhood. “We received a fair amount of calls
from people that were concerned and rightfully so,” he said. “Nobody
wants a rapist in their neighborhood.”
He added that while the agency has at times received false police
reports, he couldn’t remember someone fabricating something of this
magnitude, a story that would set the neighborhood on edge like it
did.
Wiles said Vonrekowski would face arraignment this week. She
remains in custody at the Yamhill County jail. |
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From May
3,
2006, Newberg Graphic
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