CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : DAVIS : False-Report Charge Filed in Rape Story

Misdemeanor charges of filing a false police report were filed against a Davis woman whose account of a gang rape by skateboarding teen-agers caused two weeks of tension in this college community. Davis Police Sgt. Donald Brooks said the complaint filed against Janet Berger, 44, carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $500 fine. On Aug. 2, Berger told police that she had been raped on a bicycle path by five youths on skateboards. Berger, who had numerous cuts and two broken fingers, said they raped her after she had accidentally brushed by one of them while bicycling. Her report triggered a backlash against all skateboarding youths and criticism of police for not capturing or identifying any suspects. Two weeks later, Berger told a rape counselor and police that she had merely fallen from her bicycle and had made up the rape story. Brooks said that “she still has not been able to provide any explanation or motivation. She says she doesn’t know why she did it.�