University Police filed a sworn complaint Tuesday afternoon charging a UF student and his girlfriend for allegedly staging an armed robbery at an on-campus convenience store in December.
The sworn complaint charged Steven P. Klepac, a 20-year-old UF horticulture junior, with filing a false police report, misuse of the 911 system and theft. The complaint also charged Klepac’s girlfriend, Lani Caraballo, 21, with filing a false police report and theft as an accomplice, said UPD Spokesman Maj. Brad Barber.
Klepac originally told police he was robbed at knifepoint at about 4 a.m. Dec. 9 in the Graham Oasis convenience store, Barber said.
A UF Alert was sent out at 4:19 a.m., informing students, staff and faculty that a suspect, described as a white male with a khaki-colored jacket and gray sweatpants, had robbed the convenience store.
However, during the investigation, detectives confronted Klepac about inconsistencies they found in his story.
Klepac confessed that the robbery was planned, Barber said. He told police that the robber was actually his girlfriend wearing a disguise.
Barber said the complaint will be reviewed by the State Attorney’s Office.
Klepac said in an interview Wednesday that the charges were dropped as part of a plea agreement for a previous arrest, but his lawyer, Stephen Bernstein, could not be reached Wednesday evening to confirm.
“This is a very serious incident that required a tremendous amount of investigative resources to resolve and, regrettably, portrayed a dangerous incident that did not in fact occur,” Barber said.
Contact Kathryn Varn at kvarn@alligator.org.
