A Pueblo man was arrested this week for what police described as a pretend kidnapping report that prompted an Amber Alert, all to expedite efforts to trace down his stolen pickup truck.
Late Wednesday afternoon, law enforcement officials responded to a bowling alley in southwest Pueblo in response to a report of a motorized vehicle theft and kidnapping, based on a Pueblo Police Division information launch.
There, officers spoke with Daniel Reyes, 34, who mentioned his 13-year-old cousin was within his white Ford F-250 truck when it was stolen.
The investigation by Pueblo police quickly escalated to incorporate a number of businesses, together with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, earlier than police discovered the unoccupied truck a couple of mile and a half east of the bowling alley.
4 hours after the investigation started, police realized the lady whose {photograph} Reyes provided was secure. Bianca Hicks, a Pueblo police spokeswoman, mentioned Reyes knew the lady and her household, however the two weren’t associated and the identify supplied by Reyes was fictitious.
Reyes was questioned additional by police and ultimately arrested and booked into jail Wednesday on suspicion of trying to affect a public servant, a felony.
TV station KOAA reported that Reyes’ arrest affidavit states he informed investigators that he knowingly made the false report back to attempt to velocity up the method of discovering his stolen truck. JHB was not instantly capable of receive the affidavit as a result of the Pueblo County District Courtroom requires fee for information to be made in particular person or mailed within the type of a verify or cash order.
Hicks declined to explain the contents of the affidavit.
The Pueblo Police Division in its information launch thanked the opposite businesses that supported the pressing however finally useless seek for the lady, together with the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Workplace, tenth Judicial District Legal professional’s Workplace, Colorado State Patrol, Fountain Police Division and El Paso County Sheriff’s Workplace.
Hicks mentioned the false report strained the town’s police drive, which was additionally responding to an armed standoff on the time, and the incident’s proximity to Interstate 25 compelled the division to alert quite a few different businesses alongside the hall.
“Sadly, as a result of it was not a respectable state of affairs, you had officers who have been now being taken away from with the ability to reply to precise wants and crimes and considerations locally,” she mentioned, estimating the hours of pointless work performed by Pueblo police and different legislation enforcement officers might be value tens of 1000’s of {dollars}.
She additionally acknowledged neighborhood members’ efforts to unfold the phrase concerning the tip earlier than police realized it was unfounded.
“You might have so many people who find themselves so passionate and so engaged, and to have it’s completely made up is heartbreaking. It’s irritating,” Hicks mentioned.
Reyes was launched from jail on a $10,000 private recognizance bond on Oct. 17, based on court docket information.
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