Chula Vista Girl Makes False Report That Man Tried to Kidnap Her: Police [UPDATED]

CHULA VISTA, CA — A 13-year-old girl's bogus report of being grabbed by a man in a failed kidnapping attempt on a South Bay roadside Wednesday prompted authorities to search for the supposed criminal until she confessed hours later to having made up the story.

The teen told police she was walking to school when a heavyset stranger pulled up alongside her in a dirty white van in the 400 block of Oaklawn Avenue in Chula Vista at about 8:30 a.m., Lt. Fritz Reber said.

She claimed that the driver got out, took hold of one of her arms and said, "Let's go; let's go," after which she managed to break free and run to her nearby home.

Under questioning by detectives with her mother present, however, the teen eventually recanted her story, Reber said.

Police declined to discuss what might have led the girl to make the false report. She will face no criminal repercussions for the lie, the lieutenant said.

— City News Service