Police: Teen's report of stabbing at DuPage County forest preserve a hoax

A 16-year-old girl's report that she was stabbed while walking on a trail at Timber Ridge Forest Preserve in West Chicago was a hoax, police say.

The girl had told DuPage County Forest Preserve police that she was assaulted by a man with a kitchen knife about 4:20 p.m. Tuesday.

However, as investigators questioned the girl for more details, she told them that she falsely reported the crime and fabricated all of the details, police said Wednesday night in a news release. The girl told investigators that the injuries she sustained were self-inflicted, police said.

Because the girl is a minor, the case will be turned over to the forest district's police juvenile department.

“The safety of the community and visitors to the preserves within DuPage County is of highest importance to the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County,” police said in the news release. “Even though this was a fabricated incident, the Forest Preserve District is thankful for support and collaboration it received from the DuPage County sheriff's department and the DuPage County state's attorney's office who assisted throughout this investigation.”

Forest preserve police increased patrols in and around Timber Ridge Forest Preserve near West Chicago after the 16-year-old girl reported the crime. She had told police she had just locked her bicycle and was walking on the trail parallel to Timber Lake and County Farm Road when a man approached her, took out a kitchen knife and swiped at her.

• Daily Herald staff writer Robert Sanchez contributed to this report.