A Birmingham man has been arrested under the ‘Carlee Russell’ law after falsely reporting an armed robbery to the Hoover Police Department.

On January 16, Larry Scott Brown, 54, made a call to Hoover 911 claiming a robbery was taking place at a local Walmart. According to law enforcement, Brown made the call in an attempt to allude surveillance from HPD after an officer began watching his unoccupied vehicle that was believed to be connected to a retail theft at a local business.

After the call went out, several officers, including the one watching Brown’s vehicle, responded to the Walmart. Upon arriving the group found that the call was a hoax. The officer conducting surveillance then returned to where the vehicle had been located but found that it was no longer there.

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Shortly after recognizing that the call had been a false report, HPD launched an investigation into the incident discovering that Brown was responsible for the call. The agency said that Brown was not at Walmart at the time of the false report.

Brown was taken into custody last Friday. He has been charged with a Class C felony and his bond has been set at $5,000.

If found guilty, under the new law, Brown is facing up to ten years in prison and will have to pay restitution for any expenses incurred on law enforcement due to the false report.

Austen Shipley is the News Director for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @ShipleyAusten