11-year-old girl arrested after faking friend's kidnapping because she 'thought it would be funny'
Ben Thompson
Featured Image Credit: Volusia Sheriff's Office
An 11-year-old girl has been arrested after she texted police telling them that her friend had been kidnapped - all because she 'thought it would be funny'.
On Wednesday morning, the Floridian girl texted police to say that her 14-year-old friend had been abducted by 'an armed male driving a white van on South I-95 in Oak Hill'.
The girl, who claimed to be following the van in a jeep, would text updates for the next hour and a half.
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Deputies responded with help from the sheriff's office aviation unit, but no van was found.
The cell phone was then tracked to a home in Port Orange, where the girl's father confirmed she was inside with her family.
The Volusia Sheriff's Office said in a news release: "As deputies approached the girl, she was holding her cell phone, which was ringing as she walked out to meet the deputies.
"When answered, Volusia Sheriff’s Dispatch was on the line and deputies verified they were on scene."
When questioned, the girl claimed she'd made the false report after seeing a YouTube challenge and she thought it 'would be funny'.
Body camera footage that has since been released by the Sheriff's Office shows the child being handcuffed, with her face blurred for protection of her identity.
For her false report, she was charged with making a false police report concerning the use of a firearm in a violent manner, which is a felony.
She was also charged with a misdemeanor - misuse of 911.
The police transported her to the Family Resource Center for processing, before taking her on to Volusia Regional Juvenile Detention Center.
Sheriff Mike Chitwood slammed the misjudged prank as 'dangerous' and urged parents to monitor their child's social media use.
He said: "We’re going to investigate every incident but today it wasted valuable resources that might have helped someone else who legitimately needed our help."
This isn't the first case of fake abduction to hit the headlines in recent weeks.
Carlee Russell has been in the news a lot after she mysteriously vanished for 49 hours, before returning with claims that she had been kidnapped.
Alabama Police have said that they 'pretty much' knew that her story was a hoax once she returned home - something she eventually admitted to.
They are currently considering whether to pursue charges against Russell since the revelations about her claims came out.
Police Chief Nicholas Derzis told reporters: "We still don't know what happened in those 49 hours, where she was. Did she have any help? We have no idea.
"We wanted the focus to be, bring her home. She got home. We're very excited about that. That facts that I (spoke about) last Wednesday pretty much showed that we knew it was a hoax."