Someone With A Grudge Against Me Made A False Report To Police That I Trespassed On Their Property And Lunged At Them

Location: Maine

I was out for a walk a block away from where I live when I spotted someone's missing cat darting back and forth across a street and five private properties. I tried my best to at least keep him in sight while I contacted the owners.

I managed to take a picture of him and coax him to within 10 feet of me despite him being very skittish. I was on the phone with his owner and was texting his owner while doing this, and his owner confirmed from my picture that it was definitely her cat.

The owner lives three hours away but had lost him in my small town, so she wasn't there when out of nowhere two cops pulled up and said that a homeowner reported that I had trespassed on their property, yelled at them, and lunged at them - none of which ever happened. I told the cops that I didn't do any of those things, but they believed the homeowner instead of me (One of them said he didn't believe there ever was a cat, despite me showing the text message chain between myself and the owner, my time-stamped picture of the cat, and despite the fact that I had a bag of cat treats in my hand.)

The police filed a report, issued me a warning for disorderly conduct, and said that if I did it again, I would be arrested. They also told me to avoid the area, which again is right down the street from where I live and a place that I need to drive and walk past regularly (The house in question is right on the corner of a public intersection.)

Disturbingly, the homeowner knew who I was, even though I have no idea who they are and have no history with that house. The cops said that the accuser knew my name, and they said this as if it were somehow damning evidence against me. This leads me to believe that the homeowner could be someone who has a grudge against me from a previous business interaction or something.

Given that they have already proven that they're willing to lie to police, how do I protect myself from another false report?

I also don't want this false report to show up on in-depth background checks. This there a way to have it deleted or suppressed?

I requested a copy of the report and spoke with the officer who wrote the report over the phone on a recorded line to express these concerns. I asked him if it seemed sus that the homeowner knew who I was. He said no and that he didn't care to know how they knew who I was. I asked him what steps I should take to avoid another false allegation and he said avoid the area. I told him that if it's someone with a grudge against me, there's nothing to stop them from making another false report even if I'm not in the area. He basically just said wait until that happens before worrying about it. He also became irate and started yelling at me when I brought up the fact that there are security cameras in the area and witnesses, and he said that this would not be investigated further.

The bias that the police have displayed in this situation makes me wonder if someone in the department is the homeowner or knows the homeowner personally (It's a small town).

I'm considering filing a police report against the homeowners for filing a false report against me. I want absolutely nothing to do with them, but I don't want to have an unchallenged false report with such disgusting allegations be on my record.

Is it wise to file a police report against them given my concerns? Is there any way to remove or at least suppress their false police report so that it doesn't show up on in-depth background checks?

Should I speak with the police captain about this?

I live in a one-party consent state. Should I file a complaint against the officer who I spoke with over the phone for his dismissiveness and unprofessionalism?

There is an adjacent business that has security cameras covering the area in question, and I went there the next day and asked them to preserve the footage, but I don't think they did. I'm still attempting to speak to the owner of the business about that, but so far haven't been able to.

Thank you in advance