Warrant issued for woman linked to hoax call in polygamist case

Warrant issued for woman linked to polygamist case

An arrest warrant has been issued for Rozita Swinton — a person of interest in phone calls that might have sparked a raid on a polygamist group in Texas — after she didn’t show up in court on the charges of violating probation.

Swinton, 33, failed to attend a hearing in Douglas County District Court on Monday for one of two false-reporting cases against her in Colorado. Court administrator Lori McKager said an arrest warrant was issued.

Swinton, of Colorado Springs, is accused of violating her probation stemming from her 2007 guilty plea for telling police she was a 16-year-old girl who was suicidal after giving birth.

[G]rowing evidence indicates Swinton repeatedly made calls to authorities in multiple jurisdictions, setting off large emergency responses that sometimes involved dozens of police officers.

The Texas Ranger Division of the Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed Friday that Swinton was a person of interest in calls placed to a crisis hotline by someone claiming to be Sarah, a 16-year-old girl who had been sexually abused and beaten by a 50-year-old polygamous husband.

The reports in late March led to a raid that began April 3 at the Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado, Texas, in which 416 children were taken into custody.

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