Rochester, MN (KROC AM News) - A reported attack involving a woman on a southeast Rochester bike trail never happened.

The woman now says she made up the story because she feared for her life.

The woman initially told police she was on a bike trail on the northwest side of McQuillan Park around 4:30 p.m. last Thursday when a man approached and began punching her in the face and hit her with a baseball bat. At the time, police said she was not very cooperative.

Officers investigating an unrelated incident this week came across witnesses who said they saw a man with a bat force his way into a residence in the 2300 block of Park Lane SE last Thursday. Moments later, they saw a woman come out and run off.

Investigators talked to the woman again and she admitted that she was the victim of that attack and that the other incident never happened. The woman says the man who assaulted her is her ex-boyfriend. She says she was afraid he would kill her if she told officers about the assault.

Andre Chaplin-Photo from Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office
Andre Chaplin-Photo from Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office
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Police later arrested 30-year-old Andre Chaplin on assault, stalking and other charges.

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