DETROIT – In August one local couple said a man barged into their home and took a bird.
Now investigators say there’s a whole lot more to this story. You may remember the couple, 30-year-old Lauryn Siler, and her fiancé, 37-year-old Christopher Urbancyzk. They told the story about a man breaking into their Macomb Township home and stealing the parrot.
Original Story: Macomb Township family’s pet parrot stolen from home
That happened back on Aug. 16. It turns out the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office said that’s not true.
“After a thorough investigation, we did determine that the report was false and inaccurate and that the couple reporting the parrot as stolen were actually not in fact the owners,” said sergeant Renne Yax with the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators had been reviewing a video that the couple said showed a man stealing a parrot from a home in Macomb Township. Yax said the man seen in the video walking away was actually the parrot’s owner.
“He was determined to be the rightful owner, so he went to retrieve his parrot and as he was trying to leave with his parrot she followed him out and there was some type of struggle that did happen. What we’re told is that the people were acquaintances because of the bird and that the male had actually given the bird to the couple for mating purposes,” said Yax.
But if that wasn’t enough, deputies said the couple lied to them several times.
They also showed a false receipt of them buying the bird from the pet store.
“There is video of the couple going into a business in Royal Oak where they obtained a receipt book from the owner and actually wrote out their own receipt, which is what made it false. They are both charged with four counts. One count of uttering and publishing, meaning they provided a fake receipt to us for the bird. Then two counts each for false report of a felony, being the stolen parrot and home invasion and then one count each for lying to a police officer,” said Yax.
Read more: Metro Detroit crime news