College student said officer sexually assaulted her. It was a lie, sheriff says
Editor’s note: After being found guilty in April, Dyanie Bermeo was acquitted by a Virginia appellate judge in August. She spoke exclusively with the Observer about her case in a story and video that published on Dec. 8, 2021.
A 21-year-old college student from Mint Hill was arrested after an investigation into her claim that a police officer or cop impersonator sexually assaulted her during a traffic stop, Virginia sheriff’s investigators said Friday.
Dyanie Bermeo, a student at King University in Bristol, Tennessee, said she was assaulted on Sept. 29 at an intersection in Washington County, Virginia, the county sheriff’s office posted on Facebook Friday. The county is in the southwestern part of the state along Interstate 81. Its largest town is Abingdon.
“Considering the dangerous nature of this report,” Bermeo’s claim prompted “a full-scale investigation” by the sheriff’s office, with help from the Abingdon Police Department and Virginia State Police, according to the post.
Bermeo also reported the assault to King University faculty, which led the university to distribute a safety bulletin to students, the sheriff’s office said.
“After a thorough investigation and evidence gathered because of the report, it was determined that this incident lacked validity and appeared to be fabricated,” investigators said in the post.
Bermeo was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of giving a false report to a law enforcement officer.
This story was originally published October 17, 2020 at 9:05 AM with the headline "College student said officer sexually assaulted her. It was a lie, sheriff says."