False Accusation Has Snowball Effect for Accuser

A woman's false accusation of sexual assault at an Oak Lawn motel led to charges being filed against three people, including the woman who initiated the complaint, police said.

Drakita Parks, 20, of Calumet Park, was picked up on an outstanding warrant for criminal damage to property and charged with obstructing a peace officer after police looked into her story.

Police said they went to the , 9320 S. Cicero Ave., around 5:30 a.m. on March 15, in response to a possible criminal sexual assault. The caller said the supposed victim, Parks, was walking northbound on Cicero Avenue.

Parks identified herself to police as “Star M. Partise” and told them she had been sexually assaulted at the motel 20 minutes earlier, police said.

Police went to the motel room where they found Reginald Simmons, 48, of Chicago, passed out and half dressed, according to reports.

The motel manager told police that Simmons and Parks had also been in another room. Police said the room was empty after the manager let them into the room with the passkey.

Simmons told police he was missing his car keys, cell phone and money, and that sex between the two had been consensual, police said.

As Parks was being driven back to the motel, police said she told them a second man had also been involved in the assault.

Upon arriving at the motel, where Parks positively identified Simmons, police said they found Parks in possession of Simmons’ phone and car keys, but Simmons denied taking his money.

A Cadillac that Simmons claimed was his was found in the parking lot. Parks said she believed the car belonged to the second man involved in the alleged assault. The car turned out to be registered to a woman in Jackson, TN, police said.

Simmons signed a complaint against Parks for theft. While doing so, another man arrived on the scene claiming that he was Parks’ boyfriend.

When police asked him her name, he said he believed her last name was Parks and her first name “Daralay.” The man said he wasn’t sure because they had only just met in a store and she had been staying with him for three weeks, reports said.

Parks and Simmons were both taken to the . On the way, police said, Parks told them her real name.

Police discovered an active warrant for Parks’ arrest for failure to appear in court on a criminal damages charge. As detectives interviewed Parks, she admitted that sex between her and Simmons was consensual and that the second unidentified man had nothing to do with it, police said.

Parks did tell police that Simmons grabbed her around the neck, where police said there was a visible mark.

During processing, the motel manager called police to say that Simmons’ car was leaving. Police stopped Ishmaila Williams, 29, who told them he had received a call from someone named “Mike” to pick up the car at the motel, police said.

While searching Williams, police said they found a small bag of cannabis.

Police charged Simmons, of the 6400 block of South Hoyne Avenue in Chicago, with battery.

Williams, of the 5900 block of South Wood Street in Chicago, was charged with possession of cannabis.

All three are due in court on April 4 in Bridgeview.