A Bristol Township woman’s report of an attempted rape and assault at Langhorne Square in Middletown Township last month led to the wrongful arrest and 31-day incarceration of an innocent man before the accuser admitted to fabricating the story, according to court papers filed on Monday.
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On April 16, Middletown Township police were called for a report of an attempted rape and assault at the Langhorne Square shopping center on East Lincoln Highway. The incident, which occurred near Redner’s Market, led to the arrest the next day of Daniel Pierson, 41, of Yardley.
Anjela Urumova, 20, reported the incident to police and claimed that a man grabbed her from behind as she exited her truck between 7:50 and 8:10 p.m. Urumova alleged that the man attempted to pull her pants down and dragged her approximately 15 feet towards his truck, which was described as an older blue Ford with a “Thin Blue Line” sticker and visible dents and rust.
Upon police arrival, Urumova was found visibly bleeding from her right lip and provided a detailed description of the attacker’s vehicle and its path out of the parking lot, authorities said.
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The Middletown Township Police Department used the agency’s automatic license plate reader system to identify a truck matching the description and linked it to Pierson, whose physical appearance matched Urumova’s description, authorities said.
Pierson was arrested on April 17 and charged with attempting kidnapping, attempted rape, false imprisonment, and other offenses. He was jailed with a $1 million bail due to the serious charges.
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The case made local and regional news, including a number of evening TV broadcasts.
Urumova identified Pierson from a photo lineup with a 60 percent certainty, leading to the charges, authorities said.
However, additional investigation by Middletown Township police and Bucks County Detectives revealed inconsistencies in Urumova’s account, according to the court papers obtained Monday by LevittownNow.com.
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Pierson’s family reportedly relayed new information to police, who were working to collect and review security camera footage from the area where the alleged attack happened, police said.
Surveillance footage from multiple retailers in the area showed Urumova’s vehicle but did not capture Pierson’s truck or any similar vehicle following the described path, police said.
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Additionally, data extracted from Urumova’s iPhone by a county detective contradicted her story. It showed no steps recorded during the time she claimed to have been walking towards and from Redner’s Market, police said.
Last Thursday, detectives met with Urumova and she relayed again what happened, claiming Pierson attacked her. She even showed damage to her phone, police said.
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During the meeting with detectives, Urumova was advised investigators couldn’t locate the incident on security camera footage and she stated she may not have been clear on the truck’s route out of the shopping center. The young woman added that Pierson was “creepy” and she had seen his truck before in the shopping center when she worked there, police said.
Last Friday during another meeting with investigators, Urumova admitted to fabricating the entire incident, police said.
The young woman stated that the injury to her lip was caused by her grandmother, who suffers from dementia, and that she scratched her waist at work, police said.
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Urumova confessed that she targeted Pierson because she found him “creepy” and had seen his truck in the parking lot previously, authorities said.
When asked by an investigator, Urumova told them she had planned to tell the truth before Pierson’s next court hearing, police said.
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In charging documents, detectives wrote that Urumova had numerous opportunities she could have told police she was not being honest and Pierson was wrongfully imprisoned.
Pierson was released from county jail last Friday.
Urumova was charged with false alarm to an agency of public safety, false report to falsely incriminate another, false reports for offense that did not occur, unsworn falsification to authorities, unsworn falsification to authorities with forged or altered documents, unsworn falsification to authorities with a false sample/object, and tamper with/fabricate physical evidence. She was preliminarily arraigned at 1:45 p.m. before District Judge Chuck Jonas and held on 10 percent of $30,000 bail.
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Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.
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