An Indiana man called police Sunday afternoon with an alarming report: His car was stolen with an 8-year-old girl inside.
Police quickly began a search for the girl and blasted out an Amber Alert. But the man’s story soon began to unravel, and police now say there was never a girl in the car.
Cleadus Taylor, 33, of South Bend, Ind., was charged Monday with one felony count of filing a false report of an offense, according to Chicago police.
Around 4:40 p.m., Taylor had called police to report that two men jumped into his 2006 Audi A6 parked outside a store in the 8500 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue.
They drove away after he left it unattended with the keys in the car, he told police, adding that an 8-year-old girl was in the back seat.
Later Sunday, however, police reported that the girl was safe and with her family. The Amber Alert involving the car was canceled.
Officers found the Audi in the 7600 block of South Green Street in the Gresham neighborhood on the South Side, more than 3 miles from where it was reported stolen.
It was unoccupied.
In an update early Monday, Chicago police said Taylor had lied to officers and no girl was ever in danger.
