Man Admits To Lying About Special-Needs Child Inside Stolen Car So Police Would Find It Faster

KEY POINTS

The 33-year-old Queens man told police he had a child with Down syndrome inside his Ford Mustang when it was stolen
He admitted to lying about the child after the vehicle was found empty hours later
The man was charged with filing a false report and is set to appear in court on Nov. 21

A man in New York City falsely claimed that there was a 7-year-old child with special needs in the back of his stolen car so cops would find it faster, police sources said Monday.

James Reyes, of Queens, has been charged with filing a false report after he claimed a child with Down syndrome was inside his Ford Mustang when it was stolen from 202nd Street and 104th Avenue in Hollis Sunday evening, the New York Post reported, citing police.

The 33-year-old man, however, changed his story and confessed to lying after the car was found empty a few hours later, according to the outlet.

"He said he wanted his car to be found quicker," a police source was quoted as saying by New York Post.

A 17-year-old who allegedly stole Reyes' vehicle was taken into custody later that night, but he was released to his parents, police said.

The teenager, who was not charged, may have been set free because the man who reported the crime was found to be unreliable, a police source claimed.

Reyes received a desk appearance ticket and a court date of Nov. 21.

Another New Yorker was arrested in 2019 after she falsely reported that a child was inside her stolen vehicle so she would get a faster response time.

Tiffany Obi had left her car with the keys in the ignition before entering a Brooklyn neighborhood shop on July 4, 2019. A man jumped inside the vehicle while Obi was away and took off with it.

Obi, then 23, told investigators a 6-year-old child was in the back seat of her car when it was stolen, which prompted officers as well as people of the community to launch an all-out search for the vehicle and the child.

The car was found a few blocks away from where it was stolen after it was dumped by the thief, and officers spent the day dusting the vehicle for fingerprints.

Authorities then discovered that the child was never in the car and that they were in fact safe and sound at a relative's house.

Obi was later arrested for the incident.