Minnesota couple accused of making up robbery story released by judge

It was all her idea.

It’s what a Minnesota man told police after admitting he and his girlfriend completely fabricated a story about being robbed last week at knifepoint of several high priced items by three black men.

Ryan Reiersgaard and Katie Mager, both 27, appeared separately in bond court on Sunday, where Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Joseph Carlson detailed the contrasting tactics each allegedly took in admitting their misdeeds.

“Reiersgaard stated that the whole scam was Katie’s idea and he just went along with what she was stating [to police]. He stated that he and Katie lied about the whole robbery and he doesn’t know Katie’s motives,” Carlson said.

Reiersgaard told detectives: “Sometimes he and Katie’s shenanigans get out of control, and he was only trying to have some fun on his birthday,” Carlson said.

Mager told investigators she “made a mistake, had bad friends and is sorry.” Beyond that, she said she’d “only be honest with them if they promised to let her go home,” Carlson said.

The pair claimed that their supposedly stolen property included $5,000 cash, an 18-karat platinum wedding band with a 2-carat diamond stone worth $12,000, an Apple MacBook, a Burberry purse, a Louis Vuitton luggage bag worth $3,000 and an iPad.

They initially told investigators they’d gotten lost about 1:50 a.m. on Lower Wacker Drive en route to their downtown hotel when they decided to park their rental car and hoof it with all their luggage in tow.

Mager told detectives three black men approached them, and when one of them pulled a knife in the 300 block of North Columbus, the couple ran, abandoning their belongings and dialing 911.

One of the robbers, Mager said, looked like the cartoon character “Fat Albert” and “reeked of marijuana,” Carlson said.

Police quickly poked holes in their story.

Photos recovered from O’Hare Airport showed the couple had none of the luggage they’d described, and their airline confirmed to police that they had no checked luggage and didn’t bring any carry-on bags.

Prior to the robbery, Mager said she tried to meet up with a friend in Evanston, but she couldn’t provide detectives with a valid phone number for the friend.

Video from a camera near where the robbery supposedly occurred contained no corroborating footage, only police cars arriving.

And Mager told detectives she was too stressed out to remember exactly why they would have gotten out of their car on Lower Wacker with all of their luggage to walk to their hotel.

Cook County Judge Judge Sophia Atcherson released the duo on $10,000 personal recognizance bonds, meaning each promised to appear at their next court date or be on the hook for the money.

Both face one felony count of disorderly conduct for making the false police report.

Mager lives in Apple Valley, Minnesota, while Reiersgaard lives in Burnsville, Minnesota, both suburbs of Minneapolis.

Mager was previously convicted in 2014 of credit card fraud in Minnesota and received a sentence of probation, Carslon said.

According to the public defender assigned to her case, Mager has a masters in education, works as a schoolteacher and is pregnant.

Court records indicate that Reiersgaard lives with a family member and works as a driver for two separate ride-sharing companies.