Sometimes pranks can go wrong. This is what happened with an 11-year-old girl who thought it was "funny" to falsely report the kidnapping of a friend to 911 as a prank. The girl was inspired by an online challenge that landed her in Juvenile Detention Center.
An 11-year-old girl resident of Florida, US was arrested for sending a fake message to 911 authorities on 26 July, Wednesday. She texted that a man kidnapped her friend. According to police, she fake texted as she thought it would be "funny" inspired by a YouTube challenge.
As per the reports, the 11-year-old prankster messaged 911, saying a man driving a blue jeep and moving South towards Oak Hills kidnapped her 14-year-old friend. The girl also said the man was armed, describing an imaginary suspected kidnapper.
US Girl Detained Over Pranking 911
Responding to the prank texts, Volusia's Pollice Department deputies reacted along with deputies of Port Orange, New Smyrna Beach, and Edgewater Police Department. The officers conducted an extensive search for the described van suspecting it to be the kidnapper.
The little girl kept on texting for an hour and a half to the police authorities about the fake kidnapping before the authorities reached the address of the prankster.
As the little girl's descriptions were failing to be proved successful even after a thorough probe, the police officers ultimately were led to the address they were receiving texts from in Port Orange tracking the device.
When the deputies arrived, the little girl was found holding a phone that was ringing. The girl then answered the call from Volusia Sherrif's Dispatch, where the officers confirmed they were on the scene.
The girl then told deputies that the whole thing was a prank, which she saw on a YouTube challenge and thought it "would be funny."
The 11-year-old girl was charged with a felony for making a false police report involving kidnapping and firearm and misusing 911, which is considered a misdemeanour. The girl was taken to the Family Resource Center to process the incident and was then shifted to a regional Juvenile Detention Center.
Sheriff Mike Chitwood stated these pranks are not surprising but dangerous, and valuable resources have been used to help someone but wasted because of this prank. Sheriff also requested parents to keep a check on their children, to know what are they up to if given access to cell phones and the internet as children are delicate.
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