The woman who reported a man in a white cargo van had tried to snatch her daughter in Grand Junction last Monday (Sept. 29) has been charged for giving false information to law enforcement.
Tauwana Rae Laue, 36, of Grand Junction reported her daughter had ridden ahead of her on a bicycle as she walked a dog. She reported a white cargo van, with a black male driver, passed them on Hager St near Greene County intermediate school, then drove past again. The passenger jumped from the van and tried to snatch the child, but Laue reported the pit bull she was walking broke its leash bit the man on the arm. The man got back in the van without the child and left the scene.
The Greene County intermediate, elementary and middle schools were put on lock down at 1 pm. Parents were alerted and given the option to have their children stay at school until someone could pick them up, rather than have them walk home.
Sheriff’s deputies and Jefferson police officers responded to several calls from residents that day reporting suspicious white cargo vans.
However, Laue’s description of the event came into question when recording surveillance cameras on the school failed to show that type of vehicle in the area. There were no vehicle tracks or blood at the scene. Laue offered to take a polygraph test to verify her story.
Laue did not appear for the polygraph. A warrant was issued for her arrest on a charge of false reporting or communications with a public safety entity, a serious misdemeanor. She turned herself in at the law enforcement center yesterday (Oct. 6) at 6:10 pm.
A pair of similar abduction attempts were reported in Webster County Sept. 28.
In all cases when a defendant has been charged, this is merely an accusation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
