An 11-year-old Florida girl was detained after texting the police that her classmate had been abducted by a man with a gun. Later, she acknowledged that the joke was a response to a YouTube challenge.
The 14-year-old girl contacted 911 on Wednesday morning to report that her friend had been kidnapped by “an armed male driving a white van on South I-95 in Oak Hill,” according to a news release from the Volusia Sheriff’s Office. The young lady claimed that a blue Jeep was trailing the van. The 11-year-old is being kept anonymous by NBC News because she is a juvenile.
At 9:45 a.m., a sheriff’s communication dispatcher informed the sheriff’s office of a “suspicious incident reported by text message.”
For the next hour and a half, the 11-year-old sent text updates describing the male suspect and claiming he was armed.
Deputies were called, and they searched for the suspicious vehicle with the assistance of the sheriff’s office aircraft unit, officers from Edgewater, New Smyrna Beach, and Port Orange. However, no van was located.
Deputies located the mobile that was texting 911 to a Port Orange residence at around 10:30 a.m. They spoke to the girl’s father when they arrived at the house, who confirmed that she was there with her family.
“The girl was walking out to greet the deputies while carrying a mobile device, which was ringing at the time. Volusia Sheriff’s Dispatch was on the line when the call was answered, and deputies confirmed they were on the scene, according to the sheriff’s office.
She admitted to deputies that a “YouTube challenge” had given her the idea to prank 911 and that she had thought it “would be funny.”
The young person was accused of filing a false police complaint about the violent use of a handgun and of abusing the 911 system, both felonies.
The youngster is shown with her hands bound behind her back and with her face obscured in a body camera clip that the sheriff’s office posted. The girl states shakily in the video, “I’m not going to do this again.”
According to officials, she was taken to the Family Resource Center for processing before being taken to the Volusia Regional Juvenile Detention Center. It’s unclear at this time if she has legal representation.
Sheriff Mike Chitwood referred to the joke as “dangerous” and advised parents to keep an eye on their children’s social media use.
He stated, “We’re going to look into every incident, but today it was a waste of resources that could have helped someone else who actually needed our assistance.”