PD: Man Stiffed By 'Dealer' During Hurricane Falsely Reported Crime

A New York man, trying to buy marijuana from a stranger on the night Hurricane Sandy hit Middletown, was stiffed the $20, then reported the transaction as a robbery, according to Middletown Police.

On Oct. 29 at 9:51 p.m., Malik Soloman, 24, of Middle Highway, East Hampton, N.Y., contacted police during tropical storm Sandy to say an unknown male robbed him at Washington and Pearl streets, then fled with two other men in a red car, the report says. One of them men, the Soloman said, took his money, "by force," the report indicates.

Police found the car from his identification and Soloman identified one of the occupants, police say, as the man who robbed him of "$20 or maybe $40." A police investigation revealed Soloman gave the man $20 for "weed" and then the man drove away, the report says.

He went home, talked to his girlfriend, and they decided he should report it as a robbery, police say. Soloman told officers he was in the area, "looking to buy narcotics in general," when he was robbed.

The man admitted the two were walking and talking, when Soloman asked for "a dub," and, then told police, "I had no intention of selling any weed to this man. I asked him for the money and he was dumb enough to give it to me."

He was charged with second-degree falsely reporting an incident. There is no indication the unknown man was charged.