A woman has been charged with mischief, after she allegedly told police a man robbed her - but that man was in custody at the time.

On Monday at around 1:30 a.m., a 49-year-old woman called police and said she had been confronted by a man she knew whom she said used physical force to take her purse and prescription medication.

The man she tried to blame was in Her Majesty's Penitentiary at the time, "making it impossible for him to have been responsible," the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary said.

On Wednesday, officer arrested the woman who made the false report.

She's been charged with mischief (misleading a police investigation) and is scheduled to appear in provincial court in St. John's in June.