Hazlet Police: Report of Home Invasion Was Fabricated

A Hazlet Township woman who told police she had been the victim of an alarming home invasion and assault Wednesday night has admitted to making up the story, police say. 

Amanda Rembisz, 34, of Poole Avenue was charged Friday night with making a false report to law enforcement, according to Hazlet Police Chief James Broderick. She has been released pending a court hearing.

On Wednesday, Hazlet Township Police officers responded to Rembisz's 911 call of a report of a home invasion with injuries at her residence on Poole Ave, around 8 p.m.

When they arrived Rembisz told the officers that she had been down in her basement doing laundry, and that when she came upstairs she found a white male wearing a hooded sweatshirt in her hallway holding her pocketbook.

She told police that she struggled with the subject, that he struck her in the face, and then he fled through a back door with her pocketbook.  

Responding police units immediately set up a perimeter, and the area was searched by Ptl. Kevin Geoghan and K-9 Diablo. The victim's pocketbook was located in the backyard, but the suspect was not found.

The area was searched by Sgt. Robert Mulligan, Ptl. Maryann Smith, Ptl. Scott Randolph, Ptl. Thomas Enright, and Ptl. John Fitzsimmons. Union Beach officers and State Police also assisted.                

Officer Chris Acevedo continued the investigation, assisted by Officer William Agar. 

But based on an analysis of physical evidence at the scene and statements from the victim, the officers came to believe that the crime did not take place. 

During an interview on Friday, when confronted with the inconsistencies in both the evidence and her statements, the victim admitted to fabricating the entire incident, said Chief Broderick.