A Rockdale man looking to break his apartment lease reported an armed robbery only to be arrested later when it was discovered to be false.

On Wednesday, Sept. 4, Nigel Mandela-Mayo Key, 38, of Harvest Grove Lane was was arrested for False Report of a Crime after the case investigator was able to determine that he did in fact make up the armed robbery in hopes that it would help him break his apartment lease.

On Sunday, Sept. 1, Rockdale County Sheriff's Office deputies were dispatched to an armed robbery call at the Harvest Grove apartment complex on Iris Drive. The victim told responding deputies that he had been robbed at gunpoint by two suspects the previous night. When asked why he was just now reporting the robbery, the victim told deputies that he had called 9-1-1 the night before, but that dispatchers told him that the Sheriff's Office was between shifts and that someone would have to contact him later.

The RCSO Investigator Michael Camp pointed out, "We respond to all calls, especially if it's an armed robbery."

Key's description of the shift change times was inaccurate and as investigators began talking to him further, several more inconsistencies came up in the victim's account of the robbery.

"His description of the suspects changed a couple times. It just seemed fishy from the start. Then the shift change, which we knew wasn't accurate.
Once the investigator started talking to him, he could tell there was a lot of inconsistencies."

Eventually, Key "more or less admitted he was trying to get out of his lease," said Camp.

Key was booked into the jail and later released Thursday, Sept. 5, after posting a $5,000 bond.

Sheriff Eric Levett said, "When crimes are reported, especially those violent crimes that we are specifically focusing on in the county, the RCSO devotes a lot of time and effort in responding to and trying to solve each one. If someone makes up a crime, that takes away from the RCSO being able to address real crimes. It wastes the time and efforts of our investigators and patrol deputies in addressing real incidents of crime in the county, not to mention the safety risks it poses when deputies are responding to an area in which they believe there are armed persons that have just committed a violent crime. When violent crime does occur, it creates a higher level of fear and uneasiness throughout the county.

"In cases of false reports of such crimes, there is no patience or understanding on our part whatever the reason may be. The RCSO will take a firm stand against those persons falsely reporting crimes and will pursue prosecution to the fullest extent of the law."