A Seton Hall University student has been charged after filing a false police report in the Municipal Court of South Orange that was reported to have happened in the early hours of Nov. 6.
Taylor Bromberg, 18, a resident of Manalapan, N.J., was arrested on Nov. 6 at approximately 2:00 a.m, according to the SOPD crime blotter.
At approximately 2:30 a.m. on Nov. 6 a Pirate Alert was broadcast to the University community stating the student reported she was the victim of an armed robbery.
According to the alert, the student said the robbery took place while she was walking at Tichenor Ave. and Irvington Ave.
Thee SOPD crime blotter said, the detective assigned to the case determined that the alleged incident did not take place and was in fact fabricated.
Bromberg has since been processed and released, according to the blotter.
The matter is now under the jurisdiction of Community Standards, according to Laura Wankel, vice president of student affairs.
"It has been referred to the office of the Dean of Students," Wankel said.
Wankel said the privacy of Bromberg is protected under the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act and the University will not release information regarding the situation.
According to Wankel it is always difficult to deal with situations in which students fail to live up to the standards of Seton Hall's community student handbook.
"Dishonesty is a fundamental betrayal of community," Wankel said. "This is why we have such clear expectations spelled out for things like academic integrity and the reporting of incidents to Public Safety or the police."
The University has only had four falsely filed reports, including this past one, in the last ten years, according to Wankel.
"Fortunately, incidents such as these are very rare," Wankel said.
Sophomore, Christian Warneke said the false report may have been a result of "new-found freedom" students have when they come to college.
"College can be a stressful time, and new-found freedom can sometimes get the best of people, especially freshmen," Warneke said. "It's unfortunate because these incidents may cause students to disregard future Pirate Alerts and take their safety for granted."
Wankel said she was distressed that any individual would falsely report a crime.
"We work hard with Public Safety and the Village of South Orange to promote a safe environment for all of our community members," Wankel said. "Actions such as these damage our community, betray trust and fuel fear and anxiety."
Junior Emily Mackessy said filing false reports makes people look like they are asking for attention.
"I just think it is dumb how someone would feel the need to make that up," Mackessy said. "We get plenty of emails from Pirate Alert so of course we believed that one."
Wankel said she hopes Seton Hall can move forward with a restored sense of community.
"This behavior is not typical of our students, most of whom are honest and hard-working," Wankel said.
The Setonian did not receive comment from Public Safety & Security as of press time.
Ashley Duvall can be reached at ashley.duvall@student.shu.edu
T.J. Brennan can be reached at thomas.brennan@student.shu.edu
