newjerseynewsroom.com

New York TV weather woman wanted to gain sympathy

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

A different kind of cry for help may have led Heidi Jones to file false police reports in New York City. The WABC-TV weather woman was suspended Wednesday for filing reports about a phony stalker and a Central Park assault.

The indefinite suspension of Jones was announced on the station's noon telecast. WABC-TV insiders said Jones would likely be fired after an internal investigation.

The New York Post reports that police sources said Jones had admitted to filing the false report because she suffered from "personal and professional pressures" and wanted to gain "sympathy" over an undisclosed personal issue.

According to the New York Daily News, the 37-year-old weather forecaster was busted for telling cops a Hispanic man attacked her in the park on Sept. 24 — and that he returned to threaten her two months later, a police source said.

She told police a second "incident" happened near her Manhattan apartment on Nov. 21 — three days before Jones went to police with her story, according to a source.

Jones claimed she was jogging through Central Park in late September when a man attacked her and dragged her into a wooded area, the source said. She claimed her attacker bolted when two tourists saw the incident and screamed — but she never reported the attack to police.

The forecaster appeared at the 6th Precinct in late November to report she was approached again "by the same man who did this before," the source said.

Once police began investigating her tale, the story quickly unraveled. Among Jones' only defenders yesterday was her mother in Florida, who claimed that Jones never used the word "rape" when she described the alleged attack to police.

"I have no comment. I do know that the word 'rape' was never used," the mom said.

Paul Callan, an attorney for Jones, said she intends to plead innocent to the charges. Jones — who's due in court on Jan. 5 — could face up to a year in prison if convicted.

Jones, the anchor of WABC's weekend weather forecasts, was known to a national audience for her fill-in work on "Good Morning America."

According to 7online.com, Heidi Jones joined the Eyewitness news team in November of 2005. Each Sunday, weather permitting, she would go live from a different location and do the weather. From running a race in Central Park, to rappelling 80-feet, Heidi has even given a weather forecast in a 16-foot cage with motorcycles overhead.

Runwithheidi.com says running is something personal and formative for Heidi. Since 2007, she has formed a team of inspiring runners to train for the NYC half marathon in an endeavor to show that anyone can run a half marathon. She recruits a running coach, strength coach and a nutritionist for the 12 week program. Her team has consisted of a blind runner, first timers, cancer survivors and those who just want to live a healthier lifestyle.

Heidi's motto is, ‘if you knew you wouldn't fail, what would you try?'