Regina woman charged for false report of child inside stolen car

A Regina woman who reported that her car was stolen with a four-year-old child in the back seat is now facing mischief charges after it turned out there was no child involved.

Regina police officers launched a large-scale response to the call that came in at 1:23 p.m. on Thursday. The caller reported that her car had been stolen from the 3200 block of Hill Avenue in the Lakeview area and indicated that there was a four-year-old child inside the car at the time.

Police found the vehicle empty a few minutes later parked on the 1700 block of Wallace Street just east of downtown. They entered a home nearby, still believing that there was a child involved. But the investigation later revealed that there was no child, and in fact the woman who called has no children.

The 21-year-old woman who made the initial complaint has been charged with public mischief. She won’t be named because she is also the victim of the car theft.

Dustin William St. Denis, 28, is charged with theft of a motor vehicle, possession of stolen property under $5,000 and several counts of breach of probation.