A Gainesville woman who accused an Alto man of kidnapping her at gunpoint is now herself in trouble with the law.
Habersham County deputies arrested 20-year-old Miracle Bishop Monday and charged her with misdemeanor false reporting of a crime and one felony count of making false statements.
Habersham County Sheriff’s Lt. Matthew Wurtz says Bishop misled investigators about an alleged incident that occurred on August 20. She told them that Douglas Burton, 61, stopped his pickup truck where she was walking along Mud Creek Road and forced her into the vehicle by threatening her with a gun. “Bishop further reported that Burton took her to his residence, forced her inside the residence, and made several sexual advances towards her,” says Wurtz. While Burton went to retrieve something from another room in the residence, Bishop ran out of the residence and into the surrounding wood line.
Habersham County Sheriff’s Office criminal investigators were able to corroborate specific details of the reported incident and found facts sufficient to establish probable cause for Burton’s arrest. Deputies arrested him the day after the alleged incident. They initially charged him with kidnapping, false imprisonment, pointing a gun at another, and sexual battery. After his arrest, investigators discovered additional information that led them to interview Bishop again.
“During this re-interview, investigators were able to obtain information from the alleged victim that maintained the facts surrounding the sexual battery but diluted the veracity of the circumstances surrounding the kidnapping, false imprisonment, and weapons charge,” Lt. Wurtz says.
Bishop and Burton were both booked into the Habersham County jail. A judge denied bond for Burton. Bond has not yet been set for Bishop.
