Police call to Walmart turns out to be a hoax
It was a hoax that prompted police to respond quickly to the Walmart store in Portage on Monday after a false report of a left-behind child.
According to Detective Lt. Mark Hahn, police at 2:37 p.m. Monday received a report from a Walmart employee that a woman called them, telling them she left behind her 4-year-old child after shopping at the store, and was returning to the store.
Police spent about an hour searching inside and outside the store and contacting adjacent businesses looking for the child, who was described as having brown hair, and wearing a pink coat and shorts.
Officers could not locate a child with that description and no parent arrived to pick up the child.
Hahn said the phone number given to the store by the caller was not in service and from outside the U.S.
"It was determined it was a hoax," Hahn said.
The hoax is similar to those played recently at other Walmart stores around the country, including in Cartersville, Ga., in August and Macclenny, Fla. in October, Hahn said.
Such hoaxes take up valuable resources and time, Hahn said, and could prompt a lesser response by those who would volunteer in a real emergency.
"These kinds of incidents can raise suspicions ... People become more skeptical then," Hahn said.
sgreen@capitalnewspapers.com
745-3504
Read More @ Source Greatest Con of World War II
Fraudulent Stories Here
Comments
Post a Comment