- Joined
- Jul 7, 2018
- Messages
- 37,796
- Reaction score
- 251,325
An 11-year-old Florida girl was arrested after she texted 911 to report her friend was kidnapped by an armed man — a claim she later confessed was actually just a prank inspired by a YouTube challenge.
“This kind of prank activity is dangerous — we’re going to investigate every incident but today it wasted valuable resources that might have helped someone else who legitimately needed our help,” Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said.
The child was taken into custody on Wednesday at her home in Port Orange. When authorities arrived on the scene, she was still in the process of texting phony tips to law enforcement officers, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
The initial text was sent around 9:45 a.m. It alleged a 14-year-old was abducted by “an armed male driving a white van on South I-95 in Oak Hill,” the sheriff’s office said. The girl said she was following the van in a blue Jeep.
11-year-old Florida girl charged with felony in fake kidnapping she said was inspired by YouTube
“This kind of prank activity is dangerous — we’re going to investigate every incident but today it wasted valuable resources."
