Man Reports Daughter Kidnapped, Triggers Amber Alert To Find Car Faster: Police

A man was arrested Saturday after he was accused of falsifying reports of his daughter’s abduction, which triggered an amber alert.

The man in Oakland, California, who was not identified, reported the carjacking of his vehicle – a silver 2005 Mercedes-Benz – at around 8 p.m. PDT (11 p.m. EDT) Saturday. He added that his 3-year-old daughter was in the vehicle when it was stolen. As a result, an amber alert was issued by the police, which included a description of the man’s daughter and the license plate number of the car.

Detective Cpl. Gil Tang of El Cerrito Police said the stolen vehicle was located around 11:40 p.m PDT. A brief pursuit of the vehicle followed, which ended with the carjacking suspect crashing the car near an intersection in El Cerrito, California.

Although the car was recovered and the suspect was charged with robbery, the 3-year-old was nowhere to be found. Further investigation into the case revealed that while the child was with her father earlier in the day, she was with her mother at the time the carjacking took place. The amber alert was canceled and the girl was reported to be safely found at 1:51 a.m. PDT, Sunday.

The Oakland police said the owner of the car lied about his daughter’s abduction because he thought it would help authorities locate his vehicle faster. Investigators believed that the girl’s mother had no clue about the father's alleged actions and found out about it via news reports.

The mother told Fox-owned KTVU that she refused to believe the allegation against the girl’s father. "I don't know who put it out there, but that's a false accusation."

She added the child was fine and was never in any harm. The mother of the 3-year-old was reportedly bombarded by interview requests following the incident and her house was surrounded by reporters. She said she was overwhelmed by the response and had no plans of doing an on-camera interview any time soon.

Although the girl’s name was initially revealed by authorities when the amber alert was issued, the police stopped reporting her name after she was found safe.

The father of the child was arrested on the suspicion of filing a false report. Oakland police officer Johanna Watson said the amber alert caused local law enforcement to expend a huge amount of resources toward finding the girl.

According to California Penal Code 148.5, if a person provides “false information while… [an] officer is engaged in the performance of his or her duties,” knowing that the “person receiving the information is… [an] officer,” he or she can be charged with a misdemeanor. If found guilty, the individual can face up to 180 days in the county jail.