A University of Alabama student arrested Friday admitted that she lied when she reported a sexual assault on campus early Sunday morning, authorities said.

Emma Mannion, 18, told police Sunday that she was walking near Bryant-Denny Stadium when two men forced her into a red Jeep and sexually assaulted her. She described one suspect as Hispanic with a wiry build.

Investigators working the case this week determined that Mannion was lying, Tuscaloosa County Metro Homicide Unit commander Capt. Gary Hood said Friday.

“We hope that this does not deter true victims of crimes from coming to us,” he said. “We hope it does deter those who are making a game by falsely reporting these kinds of assaults.”

Witness statements and surveillance video from the area didn’t match Mannion’s story, Hood said.

Mannion was arrested Friday afternoon and charged with false reporting to law enforcement authorities, a misdemeanor. She was being held Friday afternoon with bond set at $300.

“We put teams of investigators working this case and spent a lot of man-hours and overtime,” Hood said. “This is a severe crime, and we treat it as such. People need to know if they’ll suffer the consequences for making a false report.”

The report caused alarm in the university and surrounding community. UA posted safety advisories and emailed information about the alleged assault, as required by federal law. Mannion filed the report with UAPD a day after the highly publicized arrest of a UA student accused of raping another student in a campus dorm room.

“The entire University of Alabama campus has been on edge and on alert,” said Lt. Kip Hart, assistant commander of the homicide unit. “Parents from all over the country have called concerned and it’s put a lot of undue fear in our community.”

The homicide unit has investigated 104 sexual assault crimes so far this year. Of those, 27 of the victims were UA students.

Of those 27 cases involving students, only two arrests have been made.

“Most of the cases, we later find out to be unfounded or they’re presented to a grand jury and they find that there’s not enough evidence to support the crime.”

Hood said that underage drinking and drinking to the point of unconsciousness or memory loss has led to situations in which investigators can’t obtain enough evidence to make an arrest.

In some cases, the investigators are unable to contact the victims or the assault is reported by a third party and investigators are unable to make contact at all, he said.

Mannion told police that she had been drinking Saturday night and early Sunday morning. Investigators do believe that something happened, but Hood didn’t release details.

The investigators spoke to people who were with Mannion before and after the alleged assault. Their accounts, along with video surveillance of the parking lot at 650 Wallace Wade Avenue and surrounding businesses, made them question her story.

Investigators have worked one other case this year in which they believe the woman who filed the report was lying, Hood said, and expect to file charges against her soon.

“There are a lot of reasons the people do this,” he said. “A lot of them are not doing well in school and hope that by doing this they can get some help from the university with their grades.”

Hood said that the homicide unit will seek restitution for the expenses related to the investigation, including wages and overtime. UAPD could choose to do the same, he said, after assigning extra officers to patrol the area and work overtime hours.

“I hope it sends a really tough message,” he said. “Again, I don’t want to deter a true victim of an assault from coming to us. These are serious cases, and we treat them as such.”