A Pueblo man was arrested this week for what police described as a fake kidnapping report that prompted an Amber Alert, all to expedite efforts to track down his stolen pickup truck.
Late Wednesday afternoon, police officers responded to a bowling alley in southwest Pueblo in response to a report of a motor vehicle theft and kidnapping, according to a Pueblo Police Department news release.
There, officers spoke with Daniel Reyes, 34, who said his 13-year-old cousin was inside of his white Ford F-250 truck when it was stolen.
The investigation by Pueblo police soon escalated to include multiple agencies, including the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, before police found the unoccupied truck about a mile and a half east of the bowling alley.
Four hours after the investigation began, police learned the girl whose photograph Reyes supplied was safe. Bianca Hicks, a Pueblo police spokeswoman, said Reyes knew the girl and her family, but the two were not related and the name provided by Reyes was fictitious.
Reyes was questioned further by police and eventually arrested and booked into jail Wednesday on suspicion of attempting to influence a public servant, a felony.
TV station KOAA reported that Reyes’ arrest affidavit states he told investigators that he knowingly made the false report to try to speed up the process of finding his stolen truck. The Denver Post was not immediately able to obtain the affidavit because the Pueblo County District Court requires payment for records to be made in person or mailed in the form of a check or money order.
Hicks declined to describe the contents of the affidavit.
The Pueblo Police Department in its news release thanked the other agencies that supported the urgent but ultimately needless search for the girl, including the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office, 10th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, Colorado State Patrol, Fountain Police Department and El Paso County Sheriff’s Office.
Hicks said the false report strained the city’s police force, which was also responding to an armed standoff at the time, and the incident’s proximity to Interstate 25 compelled the department to alert numerous other agencies along the corridor.
“Unfortunately, because it was not a legitimate situation, you had officers who were now being taken away from being able to respond to actual needs and crimes and concerns in the community,” she said, estimating the hours of unnecessary work done by Pueblo police and other law enforcement officers could be worth tens of thousands of dollars.
She also acknowledged community members’ efforts to spread the word about the tip before police learned it was unfounded.
“You have so many people who are so passionate and so engaged, and to have it be absolutely made up is heartbreaking. It’s frustrating,” Hicks said.
Reyes was released from jail on a $10,000 personal recognizance bond on Oct. 17, according to court records.
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