A man who said he had been picked up in an unmarked car by men who appeared to be officers and dumped outside the city has now been charged with public mischief.

Evidence gathered in a subsequent investigation showed that the allegations by Evan Maud were fabricated, said police.

Maud said he was taken to the outskirts of the city in an unmarked car at the start of December. He said he was made to change out of his jacket and sweater into a hooded sweat shirt and then told to run home in the cold, or else the men would use an electronic control device on him.

On Dec. 11, he filed a formal complaint with police.

Winnipeg Police Chief Keith McCaskill said an investigation looked at GPS units to see exactly where police vehicles were that night. A video from a Winnipeg transit bus was also examined and it showed that Maud was actually on a bus at the same time he said the incident took place, said police.

"We have been able to totally, 100 per cent, disprove the allegations," said McCaskill.

On Friday, police said Evan Maud, 20, had been charged with public mischief. He has been released on a promise to appear in court.

Maud disputed the charge and said it "hurt" him.

Maud now says that he doesn't have a clear recollection of the evening of the alleged incident.

"You could say I was blacked out a little bit, snapping out of it, getting lost," he said.

McCaskill said police did have contact with Maud.

Maud was found in the middle of traffic near the corner of Main Street and Redwood Avenue and officers approached him to get him off the road for his safety, said McCaskill.

The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs had been serving as a liaison between Maud and the police.

Grand Chief Ron Evans said the assembly will offer support to Maud, but Evans also hopes his claims don't damage relationships between police and the aboriginal community.

Maud's family maintains the incident happened. They said they will bring forward witnesses on Monday who support Maud's allegations.

"This is not a smear campaign. This is about justice," said Joseph Maud, Evan's uncle.

Mike Sutherland, president of the Winnipeg Police Association, called on Maud to offer an apology to officers.

"For us we're interested in turning the corner, and we think a perfect start to that would be a sincere and unequivocal apology," said Sutherland.

Maud's family said it is looking at hiring a lawyer and fighting the public mischief charge in court.

- with a report from CTV's Karen Rocznik