Washington State acid attack was faked?

[Relic]

Well surprise, surprise surprise...

Anyone here been following this? Just another example of why you cannot assume anything when reading such stories in the news. I was talking to people recently who were claiming that it was a racial/bias attack and so on. They were so sure... now look. D'oh! Regardless of racial make-up/religious affiliation/shoe size, never assume anything folks

http://www.columbian.com/news/2010/s...x-source-says/

By Laura McVicker
Columbian Staff Reporter

Originally published September 16, 2010 at 4:04 p.m., updated September 16, 2010 at 5:37 p.m.
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Vancouver, WA — Amid growing speculation, a Vancouver woman who made international headlines for reporting that a black woman threw acid in her face confessed to police today that the attack was self-inflicted.

At a press conference this afternoon, Vancouver Police Department officials said they served a search warrant this morning at a residence where Bethany Storro was staying and took several items. Upon questioning Storro about what they found, police said she confessed the attack was a hoax.

Vancouver Police Chief Cliff Cook said investigators had growing speculation about Storro’s story, prompting them to serve the search warrant. Officials declined to say what they found in the residence.

"She is extremely upset and very remorseful," said police Cmdr. Marla Shuman. "In many ways, this just got bigger than she expected."

"It seems clear to everyone that we have a person here who is in a fragile mental state," she added.

Schuman said detectives turned their investigation toward Storro after continually coming across aspects of the case that just didn’t add up. For instance, investigators looked at the splash pattern of the acid, she said, and the fact that it didn’t run down Storro’s neck.

Schuman also said the time of day when Storro said the attack happened, 7:40 p.m., raised the question of why she would be wearing sunglasses.

Police officials said the interviews with Storro are ongoing, declining to offer speculation on a motive. They couldn’t say where and when she threw the acid on her face.

Storro had earlier claimed that on Aug. 30, a woman approached her on Columbia Street, just north of Esther Short Park, and said, “Hey, pretty girl, want something to drink?” When she declined, Storro said the woman hurled a cup of caustic liquid at her.

Police do not believe her parents knew from the outset the attack was faked. Schuman said Nancy and Joe Neuwelt, Storro's parents, grew suspicious as the investigation dragged on.

"They've been fully cooperative with us today," Schuman said.

Clark County Senior Deputy Prosecutor John Fairgrieve said Thursday that once detectives finish their investigation, the report will be forwarded to the prosecutor's office for consideration of criminal charges.

"This event had a lot of public interest, and I think it's appropriate that we review the investigation," Fairgrieve said.

He said potential charges could include making a false or misleading statement to a police officer, a gross misdemeanor that's punishable by a maximum of one year in jail and a $5,000 fine.

Sources said other charges, including felony theft by deception because of all the money donated to Storro, are possible.

Storro's mental health will be taken into consideration, Fairgrieve said.

"I think we really need to see what the specific nature of the evidence is," he said.

There was no timeline on when charges would be filed, although sources say the case could reach the prosecutor’s office by next week.

The case, which drew national and international media attention, prompted more than 100 tips to police. Several detectives at a time worked the case.

“Between the detectives and the chief and (spokeswoman) Kim Kapp, it's been hundreds of hours,” Schuman said. “It really took a toll on department resources.”

Storro described her alleged attacker as a black woman, prompting a stream of racial comments in response to online stories on the case. At one point, The Columbian shut down comments after being barraged by posts linking to white supremacist websites.

Clark County is home to an estimated 8,819 black people, according to the state's Office of Financial Management.

That translates to 2 percent of the population.

"The thing that bothers me the most of all is, of all the people she could have said did it, why did she say that it was an African American lady? And the other piece is that she claimed that she was a Christian. I can't put those two things together," said Rev. Joyce Smith of the AME Zion Church in Vancouver.

"It's unfortunate," Schuman said about the racial overtone to the faked attack. "It seems like that is something happens across the nation."

"It has had an impact on our community; it's brought negative attention that's undeserved," said Cook. "It was disturbing report to me."

The Columbian, citing a source, reported before the press conference that the attack was self-inflicted. The newspaper also raised the question about the veracity of Storro's story last week.

This story will be updated as the story develops.

[mike_v_s]

Crazy.

Mike

[Demon_Hunter]

What would be the point of throwing acid on herself? Is there more to this story we aren't hearing?

freaky.

[Deluge Of Sound]

Faked acid never helped anyone.

[Relic]

Originally Posted by Demon_Hunter

What would be the point of throwing acid on herself? Is there more to this story we aren't hearing?

freaky.

attention? sympathy? she got lots of both

[Demon_Hunter]

Originally Posted by Relic

attention? sympathy? she got lots of both

true....but throwing acid in your own face?

[BartmanPDX]

Heard a lot about this when it first happened because it's local but I hadn't heard this update.

Who in the hell throws acid in their own face?

[A-Step-Towards]

I was just going to post about this, semi-local to me. I remember how bad i felt for the lady when this first happend. Now she better move because honestly if I saw someone that pulled this walking down the street i would speak my mind in a vulgar way , she preyed on peoples emotions and wasted thousands and thousands of dollars.

I watched the breaking bews report at 4pm today on portlands station.

[elgecko]

She got confused, she heard acid trips were fun!

[hbarcat]

I expect to see plenty more of this kind of behavior since it's only becoming more and more fashionable to be some kind of victim. Some people have mental disabilities or physical disabilities, some have been discriminated against because of their ethnicity, gender preference, age, appearance or some other arbitrary difference. And since so many people can turn these disadvantages into power, money or just plain sympathy, it makes sense to cultivate one or more of these differences.

And if you don't have one, or if you're a loony-tunes (like this woman) and can't figure out how to contrive a relatively harmless one, just make yourself into one by throwing acid in your own face and tell everyone that you're the victim of a hate crime.

[MatticusMania]

Originally Posted by Deluge Of Sound

Faked acid never helped anyone.

I was once given fake acid. Okay, twice.

[Woodchuck]

Yeah, now that the rat's outta the bag, the media has moved on, but when this broke they had the fictional "black woman" sketch all over the place. I guess blaming mysterious black people don't have the shelf life it once had. As for one never being able to pass up a brown nosing moment, Oprah had planned a show around her. I wish this had stayed under wraps until after the show.

[Relic]

Originally Posted by Woodchuck

Yeah, now that the rat's outta the bag, the media has moved on, but when this broke they had the fictional "black woman" sketch all over the place. I guess blaming mysterious black people don't have the shelf life it once had. As for one never being able to pass up a brown nosing moment, Oprah had planned a show around her. I wish this had stayed under wraps until after the show.

Well, my point is that it works both ways - look at the Duke lacrosse case - it seems like everyone had the white students absolutely pegged as rapists, turns out, they were not. Oopsie...
Now this case - every one seemed to be so sure that some random black woman launched a brutal attack on some poor defenseless white woman...
All's I'm saying is that this is yet another example of where you can't always automatically believe everything you read. Way too many people (including myself sometimes) find themselves so willing to jump to conclusions.

[brickerenator]

Cue the "I was sexually molested as a six year old"

[Woodchuck]

Originally Posted by Relic

Well, my point is that it works both ways - look at the Duke lacrosse case - it seems like everyone had the white students absolutely pegged as rapists, turns out, they were not. Oopsie...
Now this case - every one seemed to be so sure that some random black woman launched a brutal attack on some poor defenseless white woman...
All's I'm saying is that this is yet another example of where you can't always automatically believe everything you read. Way too many people (including myself sometimes) find themselves so willing to jump to conclusions.

And in the Duke case, the media went overboard to make sure everyone knew that they didn't do it, and rightfully so. They should have. This case reminds me of the dumb ass that carved a "B" in her face, and blamed black Obama supporters. After she got found out, that story went away as well.

[Deluge Of Sound]

Originally Posted by MatticusMania

I was once given fake acid. Okay, twice.

Sucks, don't it?

[wabbit]

Originally Posted by MatticusMania

I was once given fake acid. Okay, twice.

Sounds like you got burned.

Chuckle, snort, and an extra special bonus, just because you're special ... guffaw!!

[MatticusMania]

Originally Posted by Woodchuck

And in the Duke case, the media went overboard to make sure everyone knew that they didn't do it, and rightfully so. They should have. This case reminds me of the dumb ass that carved a "B" in her face, and blamed black Obama supporters. After she got found out, that story went away as well.

Or like that girl in Europe (so broad, sorry, but I forget the actual country) that said she fell asleep while getting stars tatted on her face?

[MatticusMania]

Originally Posted by Deluge Of Sound

Sucks, don't it?

Yup, but it did make getting acid thrown in my face much more tolerable.

[Deluge Of Sound]

Anyone here seen Murder Party?

There's a great scene regarding throwing acid on someone in it.