Police charge man for faux bank robbery claim

Date: 8/23/2011

Aug. 22, 2011

By Chris Maza

Reminder Assistant Editor

EAST LONGMEADOW — On Aug. 4, Spencer Martensson called the police, saying he had been robbed in broad daylight outside of a bank on North Main Street.

It was a startling report with only one problem — it wasn’t true at all.

The East Longmeadow Police Department is now pursuing a criminal complaint in Palmer District Court against the 22-year-old Amy Lane resident for filing a false police report.

“Our investigation has determined that this is not a true report,” East Longmeadow Police Sgt. Patrick Manley told Reminder Publications. “He made the whole story up.”

Martensson reported being held up in the parking lot of Heritage Shops Plaza next to the TD Bank, where he allegedly had just cashed his check. He stated he was robbed of $1,100 by a Hispanic male in his 20s or 30s who fled north on Harkness Avenue on foot after the robbery.

However, East Longmeadow Police Sgt. Robert Driscoll and officer Joseph Barone, the officers who investigated the complaint, found proof that no such incident ever occurred.

“They gathered surveillance video from surrounding businesses and found that no Hispanic person was ever there or ran up Harkness Avenue,” Manley said. “At that point we called him back in and he admitted he made the story up.”

Manley said that when re-interviewed and presented with the video footage, Martensson “told a new story.”

“He said he lost or misplaced his wallet after being in the bank,” Manley explained. “Having lost $1,100, he said he panicked and called the police and told them this story because he didn’t know what to do.”

Martensson now faces penalties including a fine of up to $500, up to a year in jail or both, according to Manley, citing Massachusetts General Law Chapter 269, Section 13A.

Martensson has no other open cases pending with the Hampden County District Attorney’s office, according to the Hampden County Superior Court Clerk’s Office.