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UNC Student's Report of Robbery Was False

A university spokesman said Friday night said the student provided false information about the alleged crime that supposedly happened on the UNC campus.

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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — A University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill student who told police he was robbed and assaulted early Friday provided false information to police.

UNC spokesman Mike McFarland said Friday evening said university police determined no robbery or attempted robbery occurred. He did not elaborate.

The student, who was not identified, told authorities a man approached him at about 3:30 a.m. while he was walking between Wilson Library and the W. Lowry and Susan S. Caudill laboratories.

He said the man displayed a weapon and demanded cash and that the man struck him and fled on foot when the student told him he didn't have any money.

The report prompted the university campus to send out a campus-wide e-mail safety alert, McFarland said.

McFarland said he did not know if police would charge the student. It was unclear Friday evening if the university would take any disciplinary action against the student.

Friday's report is the second in recent weeks of a college student reporting a false crime on campus.

Earlier this month, Matthew Haney, 22, of Durham was charged with filing a false police report that set off a panic that locked down the campus of Appalachian State University.

Haney told police he interrupted an attempted break-in at his off-campus apartment.

Appalachian State locked down the campus for more than an hour and canceled classes.

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