Two plead guilty to false claim that Cape police hit woman

~ Both women could receive up to six months in jail and or a $500 fine.

Two women pleaded guilty to falsely claiming a police officer had punched one of them during a Cape Girardeau Central High School football game last year.

Diane Ray, 45, of 715 S. Pacific St., and LaSha Townsend, 30, of 617 Boxwood Drive, entered their guilty pleas of misdemeanor filing a false police report before Judge Gary A. Kamp on Monday, Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle said.

Both women claimed a Cape Girardeau police officer punched Townsend three times with a closed fist, but video captured by a Central High School student proved otherwise, according to Swingle.

On Oct. 6, the women were at the football game sitting in the front row of a section called "the Jungle," where the school's spirit club sits. Students in the section suggested the defendants move to different seats as the section is known for students standing up and cheering throughout the game, Swingle said.

The women declined to move and later complained when the students became rowdy, according to Swingle. A student who had been videotaping the football game left to get an administrator to complain about the women.

When the student returned, she videotaped Ray's 15-year-old daughter jumping on the back of a 17-year-old student and punching her, Swingle said. The 15-year-old was cited into juvenile court for assault.

A nearby police officer pulled Ray's daughter off the student and took her out of the stadium. During that time, Townsend had been swinging her purse, and it swung back and struck her in the nose, all of which was captured on video, Swingle said.

"They were not even touched," he said of the defendants.

While the women were charged with only a misdemeanor, Swingle said the case was important because of what could have potentially happened to the officer.

"Clearly such a report would have been damaging to the officer's career if true," he said.

Kamp scheduled sentencing for May 1. Both women, neither of whom have criminal records, could receive up to six months in jail and or a $500 fine.

Swingle said he would request the women serve seven days in jail.

Charges against a third woman in the case, Louquisha E. Heartfield, 33, were dropped when prosecutors learned she was mentally handicapped and had been told what to say by Townsend, Swingle said.

kmorrison@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127