Woman arrested for false report of sexual assault

A Petaluma woman has been arrested for falsely reporting that she was sexually assaulted by an employee at a local convenience store.

Lillian Palmer, 23, contacted the Petaluma Police Department at 1:50 a.m. on Wednesday to report that while shopping there alone, she was sexually assaulted by an employee of the 7-Eleven store at 2000 Lakeville Highway, said Sgt. Andrew Urton.

Police officers then accompanied Palmer to the store, where she placed the employee under citizen's arrest for sexual assault. The employee was taken into custody and brought to the police department for questioning. The store manager was called, and subsequently provided security recordings from the store.

After reviewing the recordings, police determined that Palmer had falsely reported the crime to police. The employee was released, and no charges were filed.

Palmer was asked to come to the police department for further questioning, and when confronted with evidence, she admitted that no sexual assault had taken place. She later was booked into Sonoma County Jail for falsely reporting a crime, Urton said.