SAN ANTONIO (Texas News Radio) — A park employee in the Austin area has been fired after she was caught on video falsely claiming a park visitor had run her over.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says the event happened on August 25.
Chris Hampshire, who posted the video online, said he was leaving Cedar Breaks Park along Lake Georgetown with his jet ski. He said he had accidentally went down the wrong exit while leaving and corrected himself.
A park employee was outside and saw what had happened. Hampshire says the woman then started telling him that he was going to call the police and that he couldn’t leave.
Hampshire then started filming.
In the video, the woman then starts screaming that she was being run over by a “lunatic.”
She then starts screaming for “Mike.” It’s not clear who Mike is.
The woman then tells Hampshire that he was going to be in big trouble and will be going to jail.
She then turned her attention back to her call to the police, crying that she was being run over and the driver wouldn’t stop.
The video clearly shows the truck not moving.
Park rangers eventually make their way over to the commotion. The woman, who the government says is a gate attendant, cries to them that Hampshire needs to be arrested.
The video then ends and Hampshire said he left.
But on his way out, he saw about a dozen police officers heading in the opposite direction toward the park. A few of them turned around to pull him over.
Hampshire said he explained the situation and showed the officers the video. He says the police let him go without further issue.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it was aware of the incident involving one of its contracted attendants, noting it doesn’t condone nor support the sort of behavior seen on the video.
“The gate attendant is no longer at the park or providing contracted gate attendant duties at any of our lakes,” the agency said in a statement.