Man reports carjacking with child inside stolen vehicle — but he lied, NYC police say
.jpg "A man reported his car as stolen with a nonverbal child inside in Queens, New York City. The car was found without a child and the owner was arrested, cops say.")
A man reported a carjacking, saying a 7-year-old boy was inside his stolen vehicle, but he lied about the missing child, the New York City Police Department said.
James Reyes’ red Ford Mustang was found in Queens hours after he called 911 on Oct. 31, but he was arrested after police said he filed a false police report when officers did not find a child in the car, WABC-TV reported.
He is accused of lying to speed up the response of law enforcement.
When officers arrived at the scene, they determined Reyes had left his Mustang running outside his home while he went inside, NYPD spokesperson Sgt. Edward Riley told McClatchy News.
Then, “an unknown male got into the running car and fled north,” he said.
Reyes told police that a nonverbal boy was inside his car, Riley said.
The stolen Mustang was found roughly a half-mile from where Reyes said it was carjacked, along with a 17-year-old who allegedly stole the vehicle, according to WABC-TV.
However, the teen accused of carjacking, who was also arrested, told police he had no information about a kidnapped boy, according to the TV station.
The incident caused a stir in the neighborhood, and one man told WCBS-TV that he wondered why there was no Amber Alert issued for the alleged missing child.
“Well, I was told that a child was being kidnapped or something like that or a child being taken,” he said. “If a child was kidnapped, why wasn’t it put on AMBER Alert? If it had been children living in the deep suburbs or whatever and they were saying their child had been kidnapped, they would have put out an AMBER Alert immediately.”
Reyes was arrested and charged on Nov. 1 with a false report incident, Riley confirmed.
The investigation is ongoing.
This story was originally published November 1, 2021 at 2:32 PM with the headline "Man reports carjacking with child inside stolen vehicle — but he lied, NYC police say."
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