West Virginia woman charged after making up story about Egyptian man trying to kidnap her daughter

A West Virginia mother is facing jail time after being charged with fabricating a story about an Egyptian man trying to kidnap her child in a mall, according to The Washington Post.

The woman initially told a heroic story about her scaring the man off with her gun as he tried to drag the child away by her hair. Turns out, none of that happened.

What actually happened? The woman, Santana Renee Adams, told police that a Middle Eastern man tried to kidnap her 5-year-old daughter from an Old Navy store by dragging her by the hair. Adams said she pulled out her concealed handgun and pointed it at the man, causing him to flee.

However, no employees or shoppers reported any knowledge of such a scene in Old Navy that day, and security cameras revealed that the suspect police arrested, Mohamed Fathy Hussein Zayan of Egypt, hadn't so much as looked at Adams or her child while he was in the store.

How does Adams explain the lie? After her initial report, Adams admitted that things may not have happened as she initially said. She changed her story to cite a "cultural misunderstanding" in which Zayan may have been simply patting her daughter on the head and smiling. But even that doesn't seem to have happened.

Zayan's charges dropped: Even though Zayan's name was cleared, he still was arrested, had to spend time in jail, and had his name smeared for absolutely no reason because of this situation. Still, he thanked police for finding the truth.

Zayan was in West Virginia doing contract work as an engineer, and was shopping for clothes for his own daughter when he was framed for attempted abduction.

"I can't say that she had any kind of agenda or what her agenda was, but it still was very, very bad to hurt this man and upset our entire community like it did," said Barboursville Police Detective Greg Lucas.

Adams faces a fine of up to $500 and a maximum penalty of six months in jail if she is convicted.