An employee of the city of Pennsylvania who called the police in January to inform a rope that he found on his desk is now accused of placing it there.
On January 10, Latarsha Brown called the Allentown Police Department and reported that he found what he thought it was a rope placed on his desk on the third floor of the Allentown City Council when he arrived at work that morning, police said. It is not clear what is Brown’s position for the city of Allentown.
Police shared a photo of the rope with NBC News, which seems to be miniature, and made with black thread.
This initiated an investigation to find a guilty, which included reviewing the video surveillance and access construction records to identify anyone on the third floor of the night before the morning report.
“Those employees were interviewed, and each one was asked if they would provide an oral swab for DNA tests if necessary,” police said in a press release published Monday. “Every employee of the city agreed, except Mrs. Brown. Initially cooperative, Mrs. Brown then requested that the investigation be discontinued.”
Later that month, the rope was presented for DNA tests in the Penylvania State Police Crimes Laboratory, and the Lehight County District Prosecutor’s Office approved a search warrant for Brown DNA. His DNA was collected and subjected to a crime laboratory “to compare DNA profiles recovered from the rope.”
“On March 10, 2025, the Forensic DNA Division of the State Police of Pennsylvania issued a written report that indicates that Mrs. Brown’s DNA coincided with the DNA profile obtained from the swings of the external surface and the internal tuft portion of the rope after dismantling,” said the police. “No person’s DNA profiles were found in the evidence involved in this investigation.”
Brown was accused of presenting false reports to the police as a minor crime in third degree and altering or manufacturing physical evidence as a minor crime in the second degree, according to the police. It is not clear at this time if Brown has retained a lawyer or still works for the city.
The Allentown City Council and the Lehight County District Prosecutor’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comments. The State Police of Pennsylvania denied a request for comments, postponing to the Allentown Police Department as the main agency.
