Hickeys lead to charges of false report

A woman who allegedly used hickeys on her neck to convince officers her husband had choked her now faces false report charges.

The suspect, Ashley Ross, 19, is charged with filing a false report for the alleged lie which led to the arrest of her husband, Matthew A. Ross, 21, on domestic violence charges. Both were placed on $2,500 bonds pending their preliminary hearings on the two misdemeanor charges.

According to police reports, the incident happened over the weekend when Ross summoned officers to the couple?s North High Street home which is in the shadow of police headquarters. During their visit, Mrs. Ross reportedly claimed her husband choked her and drug her by her arm during a domestic dispute.

At that point, Mrs. Ross showed the officer marks on her neck which did appear to be signs of domestic violence. Armed with the report and the supporting marks on her neck, the woman?s husband was taken into custody and placed in jail on a 12-hour hold which is required as a ?cool off? period after arrests for domestic violence.

However, a short time later, Mrs. Ross called the jail to report that her original claim of domestic violence was false, noting the marks on her neck were actually hickeys and not the product for an assault. The woman would later repeat her claim on a written statement, noting she had intentionally used the hickeys to mislead officers.

She would then later try to change her story again when she was placed into custody for filing a false report but then flip-flopped back to the hickey story when warned about the price of perjury.

Both the domestic violence charge against the husband and the filing a false report claim against the wife will be resolved before General Sessions Judge Larry Ross when the pair tell their respective stories under oath.