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Woman falsely accused Hallandale Beach cop of sexual assault, police say

Police say she yelled in jail: ā€˜The officer is molesting me in here!ā€™

Megan Ludlow (BSO)

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. ā€“ A Hallandale Beach woman arrested on a long list of criminal charges in February is now facing an additional count after police say she falsely accused the officer who arrested her of sexual assault.

Hallandale Beach police originally arrested Megan Marie Ludlow on Feb. 4 after they said she hit a man with a glass bottle and tried to light a womanā€™s hair on fire just before 2 a.m. at the Family Empire Spot Bar, located at 925 Old Federal Highway. Police said she then kicked the arresting officer.

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Police said Ludlow, 48, would accuse that officer of sexually assaulting her on the way to jail, but the evidence proved otherwise.

At the time of her arrest, Ludlow was already on felony probation after convictions for battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting an officer with violence. It was set to terminate in October.

According to an arrest report, she claimed in a sworn statement that the officer was ā€œroughā€ when he arrested her and didnā€™t remember going to police headquarters to be processed.

She claimed that on the way from police headquarters to the Broward Main Jail, while she was in the back of his cruiser, the officer drove in circles, then drove onto Interstate 95 and exited onto Broward Boulevard, the report states.

ā€œThe next thing she remembers is the officer pulling over in a residential alleyway and saying ā€˜all cameras are offā€™ and ā€˜no oneā€™s gonna know what happened,ā€™ā€ police wrote. ā€œ(Ludlow) stated he then ā€˜tried to rape me, but he couldnā€™t.ā€™ā€

In one account of the incident, police said Ludlow claimed that the officer got out of the car, went into the back seat, punched her in the face, which caused her to fall over and lie flat on her back in the seat, then pulled down her panties in an attempt to sexually assault her, got on top of her and said, ā€œB----, youā€™re not going to get away with this!ā€

She claimed, according to the report, that she told him, ā€œYou donā€™t know who I am!ā€ and ā€œyou donā€™t know who youā€™re f---ing with!ā€ all while kicking him, which caused him to stop. She also claimed the officer choked her, police said.

When investigators asked if the officer ever kissed her, Ludlow said, ā€œNo, but he should haveā€ and ā€œstarted to giggle,ā€ police wrote in the report.

Police said, however, that body camera footage and GPS data contradicted her claims.

The report states that the evidence showed the officer made no detours on the way from police headquarters to the jail and said the officerā€™s cruiser has a ā€œsingle-person cageā€ in which it would be impossible for an arrestee to lay flat. There are also no cameras mounted in the patrol vehicle which could be ā€œturned off,ā€ police said.

The arrest report states that the body camera footage showed Ludlow began to loudly make rape claims even before she was put in a patrol car.

Police said the clips showed her drunk at the bar and screaming, ā€œGet off of meā€ at the officer after he asked her name ā€” even though he never touched her.

Detective Sandra Harris wrote that the footage showed that as officers led Ludlow to a cruiser, her ā€œpants began falling down, exposing her red panties.ā€

Ludlow then began to scream, ā€œRape!ā€ and ā€œHeā€™s raping me!ā€ as an officer attempted to pat her down using the back of his hand, the report states.

It was ā€œobviousā€ from the body camera footage, Harris wrote, ā€œthat no one was raping her or touching her inappropriately.ā€

Police said after arriving at the Broward Main Jail following the 14-minute ride from police headquarters, Ludlow began screaming things like, ā€œHey, heā€™s got my pants off!ā€ and, ā€œThe officer is molesting me in here!ā€, telling him that she was ā€œgoing to sue the s--- out of you!ā€

She asked if cameras were rolling and said ā€œgoodā€ after the officer told her they were, police said.

Police said she continued her tirade, claiming the officer beat her and raped her and said, ā€œThe Mexican Mafia, the Cuban Mafia and the Italian Mafia are going to f--- you up!ā€

The report states Broward Sheriffā€™s Office staff refused to take custody of her before she was taken to a rape treatment center first. Thatā€™s where police said she made the false accusations under oath.

Ludlow, already charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and battery on an officer, among other charges, is now facing a charge of falsely accusing a law enforcement officer or government agent of sexual battery.

She remains held without bond in BSOā€™s Paul Rein Detention Facility in Pompano Beach as of Wednesday on those charges, plus probation violations.


About the Author
Chris Gothner headshot

Chris Gothner joined the Local 10 News team in 2022 as a Digital Journalist.

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