Woman Arrested For Lying About Her 3-Month-Old Baby Being Abducted: Police

A 19-year-old woman was arrested in Seattle, Washington, for falsely reporting her child had been abducted in a carjacking, police said.

Officers responded to the 300 block of 9th Avenue after midnight Thursday after the unnamed 19-year-old woman reported that her car had been stolen while her 3-month-old daughter was inside, according to a news release from Seattle Police Department.

When they arrived, police were unable to find the woman but spoke with an uninvolved witness, who stated that the 19-year-old caller had been driving a rented blue 2020 Toyota Corolla when she nearly struck two pedestrians crossing the street.

The witness said the woman got out of the car and fought with the two people, while an “unknown” person entered the car and drove off, according to police.

Police then learned that the caller had been driven to a nearby hospital by her friend, a 22-year-old woman, to be treated for minor injuries. The caller told police she sustained the injuries from holding onto the car “as it sped away with her child inside.”

This led to police notifying the Washington State Patrol and starting the process of sending out an Amber Alert, which is a child abduction emergency alert. Police also started to conduct a search in the nearby neighborhood and in Kent, Washington.

However, the father of the woman's child called police and informed them that the baby was safe with her grandmother, with whom his daughter had been staying for two days.

The child's whereabouts were later confirmed by police, who then confronted the woman with the information. The 19-year-old admitted she had lied about her child being abducted, claiming she thought it was the only way officers would search for the car and find her items. She also claimed she did not know who stole the car, police said.

The 19-year-old caller was arrested and booked into King County Jail for the felony crime of false reporting in relation to an Amber Alert. As of this writing, the stolen vehicle has yet to be retrieved.

Later that day, police arrested three people accused of stealing a 2021 Toyota Corolla. One of the three was the 22-year-old friend of the suspect in the false abduction call.

The 22-year-old woman allegedly fire her gun multiple times and demanded car keys from the victim, police said. The trio fled without taking the car, and no one was injured.

When police found them, the would-be carjackers admitted they believed the Toyota was their associate’s blue rented Toyota that was stolen earlier in the falsely reported kidnapping.

All three were booked for attempted first-degree robbery and drive-by shooting. The 22-year-old woman also faces first-degree assault and possession of a stolen firearm charges.