PORT ORANGE, Fla. (WSVN) – An 11-year-old girl from Port Orange was taken into custody after texting a false kidnapping report to 911, leading law enforcement to launch an extensive search for a non-existent armed suspect.
The incident occurred on Wednesday morning on South I-95 in Oak Hill, according to the Volusia Sheriff’s Office.
The deceptive 911 call prompted a swift response from multiple agencies, including deputies from the Sheriff’s Communications Center, Edgewater, New Smyrna Beach, and Port Orange police, as well as Air One. However, despite their efforts, no sign of the alleged white van and its armed male suspect was found.
“I am not gonna do it again,” said the girl to the officers.
The events unfolded at approximately 9:45 a.m. when a dispatcher at the Sheriff’s Communications Center received a text message reporting a suspicious incident. The sender, an 11-year-old girl, claimed that her 14-year-old friend had been kidnapped, stating that she was trailing the suspect’s vehicle in a blue Jeep.
“I thought to myself, you know, I know she’s 11, but we’ve got to send a message,” said Sheriff Mike Chitwood.
Over the course of the next hour and a half, the girl continued to send updates via text, including a description of the alleged suspect and the claim that he was carrying a firearm.
We scrambled Air 1, Air 1 was up for 30 minutes,” said Chitwood. “That’s probably $500-600 worth of fuel. Every police department on the east side of the county, Port Orange, New Smyrna, Edgewater, us, we’re all up on 95, looking for this car.”
Law enforcement authorities used investigative measures to trace the cell phone used for the 911 texts, eventually leading them to a home in Port Orange.
Chitwood said they were able to ping her cell phone at her parents’ home where they put her into handcuffs right in front of her dad.
“I’m telling you this right now. You’re going to take this as a lesson at 11 years old that if you do something stupid in the future, you got to enjoy those cuffs,” said an officer.
Later that morning, deputies arrived at the location on Poppy Lane and made contact with the girl’s father, who confirmed that she was inside the house with her family. As deputies approached the girl, she was holding her cell phone, which was ringing with a call from Volusia Sheriff’s Dispatch. The deputies verified their presence on the scene through the call.
During questioning, the 11-year-old, identified as Ava Rose Langone, admitted that she got the idea for the prank from a YouTube challenge and believed it would be amusing.
However, Sheriff Mike Chitwood expressed his disapproval. “This kind of prank activity is dangerous,” he said in a press release. “We’re going to investigate every incident but today it wasted valuable resources that might have helped someone else who legitimately needed our help.”
Just last week, Chitwood said there were three swatting incidents in Volusia County, including this one in Deltona where deputies arrived with guns drawn.
They had received a fake 911 call from someone claiming to have shot and killed his wife at this address.
When they arrived, they found the victim of a dangerous hoax, one that Chitwood said people, no matter the age need to take seriously.
“She’s gotta learn a valuable lesson here that you just don’t do stuff like that. Hopefully, her little friends and other parents will be like, ‘Oh my God. This isn’t funny,” said Chitwood.
As a result of her actions, Ava is facing a felony count of making a false police report involving the use of a firearm in a violent manner, as well as a misdemeanor charge of misuse of 911.
Following her arrest, Langone was taken to the Family Resource Center for processing and later transferred to the Volusia Regional Juvenile Detention Center.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.