11-year-old Florida girl charged with felony in fake kidnapping she said was inspired by YouTube

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.

She continued texting updates for the next hour and a half, among them a description of the male suspect, who allegedly had a gun. The claim sparked a massive search that included local deputies as well as officers from Edgewater, New Smyrna Beach and Port Orange. The sheriff’s office aviation unit also assisted in the efforts.

Around 10:30 a.m., deputies managed to track the cellphone that was texting 911 to a home in Port Orange. Once at the residence, they spoke with the girl’s father, who said she was inside with her family.

“As deputies approached the girl, she was holding her cellphone, 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,” the sheriff’s office said.

She told deputies she was inspired to prank 911 by a “YouTube challenge” and thought it “would be funny.”

She was hit with one felony count of making a false police report concerning the use of a firearm in a violent manner and a misdemeanor charge of misuse of 911.

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