Police: Suspects made false robbery report to divert police from drug investigation

WATERTOWN, S.D. (KVRR/KWAT) – Three people from Detroit Lakes, Minn. were arrested after police received a false report of an armed robbery in Watertown, S.D.

Watertown Police say officers responded to a report of possible drug activity in a parking lot and made contact with several people in the parking lot.

While police were investigating the incident, the people involved left  and called to report that gunmen were entering a local business.

Police quickly determined that the report was false.

Officers executed search warrants and located meth, drug paraphernalia and a portable fish house stolen from North Dakota.

Thirty-year-old Steven Barnes and 37-year-old Stephan Bergeron of Detroit Lakes were charged with Terroristic Threats, False Reporting, Possession of Stolen Property and various drug-related charges.

Nineteen-year-old Alicia Mitzel of Detroit Lakes is also facing drug-related charges.