ORLANDO, FLORIDA: An 11-year-old girl from Port Orange, Florida, decided to pull a prank on 911 as part of a YouTube challenge. However, her joke backfired and landed her in jail.
It happened after she faked her friend’s kidnapping and sent frantic texts to 911 with the abductor’s description suggesting he had a gun. The 11-year-old girl, whose name has not been revealed, texted 911 around 9.45 am on Wednesday, telling them that her friend was kidnapped near Oak Hill.
Why did a Florida girl fake her friend's kidnapping?
As part of a prank, she lied that her 14-year-old friend was kidnapped by a man with a gun who was driving a white van. She said she was following the van in a blue Jeep and gave detailed updates to 911 for an hour and a half, the Independent reported. Meanwhile, multiple deputies from three different agencies responded to the report and searched for the van and the abduction. However, after searching every lead, they could not find the van or the kidnapper and even her friend who she said was taken. Eventually, the authorities traced the girl’s cell phone and located her at her home with her family, 40 minutes after receiving the 'distressing' call, Volusia Sheriff’s Office revealed.
She thought it 'would be funny'
After questioning her parents about her whereabouts, they revealed she was inside the house with her family the entire time. The 11-year-old was holding her ringing cell phone as the cops drew near. The caller's other party was Volusia Sheriff's Dispatch, police said as per the report.
When the police confronted the girl, she confessed that she had made up the whole story as part of a YouTube challenge and thought it “would be funny.” She said she got inspired by watching videos of other people pranking 911. The police arrested the girl on charges of making a false police report concerning the use of a firearm in a violent manner, which is a felony, and misuse of 911, which is a misdemeanor.
'This kind of prank activity is dangerous'
Sheriff Mike Chitwood said, “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.” The girl was taken to the Family Resource Center for processing, before being transferred to the Volusia Regional Juvenile Detention Center. In bodycam footage released by the sheriff’s office, a deputy is heard telling the girl, who is handcuffed and whose face is blurred, “This is going to be an opportunity for you to turn this into a learning experience. This is not something you’re going to carry with you for the rest of your life.” This incident comes amid a spate of fake abduction reports in recent weeks. One of the most notable cases was of 25-year-old Carlee Russell, who vanished for 49 hours and then reappeared, claiming she had been kidnapped. Alabama Police said they “pretty much” knew her abduction story was a hoax since she returned home.
