Last Updated Wed, 11 Jun 2003 10:08:21
LETHBRIDGE, ALTA. - The legal travails of a Lethbridge,
Alta., alderwoman have just gotten worse.
Dar Heatherington, 39, was charged Tuesday with public mischief by police
in the southern Alberta city.
Lethbridge police Staff Sgt. Jeff Cove said making what they've determined
to be a false report wasted the time and effort of his investigative team.
"We take this type of crime very seriously and we certainly want to be
able to respond to the citizens of Lethbridge," Cove said.
"However, when that time is certainly diverted (into) doing an
investigation when a crime hadn't been committed, we look at it very
seriously."
Last month, Heatherington disappeared from Great Falls, Mont., and turned
up three days later in Las Vegas. She claimed to have been kidnapped and
sexually assaulted.
Police in Great Falls charged her with giving false information.
Prosecutors made a deal whereby she could escape a criminal conviction if she
sought psychiatric counselling.
Heatherington, a married mother of three, has asked the Lethbridge city
council for a leave of absence.
She will appear in court July 10 on the mischief charge.
Written by CBC News Online staff
The charge follows an eight-month police investigation into her claim that she
was being stalked.
Dar Heatherington (CP Photo)