Police Arrest Oakland Girl's Dad, Say He Lied About Her Abduction
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- The case of a carjacking that prompted an Amber Alert when it was reported that a 3-year-old child in the vehicle Saturday night took a new turn on Sunday when Oakland police reported they had arrested the child's father for filing a false police report.
"OPD Investigators have arrested the father of the 3 yr old for filing a false police report," the department said in an e-mail and post on Twitter. Police said the father lied in hopes of getting back his stolen car back quickly.
Police on Saturday night issued the Amber Alert after the carjacking was reported in Oakland.
New surveillance footage from Los Camellos Liquor showed a man wearing a dark red hoodie casually walking up to the vehicle, hopping in and driving off. Seconds later, the car's owner runs after it, even weaving through oncoming traffic.
The suspect was spotted and pursued by authorities around 11:40 p.m. before crashing the vehicle, a silver 2005 Mercedes-Benz sedan, near the intersection of Carlson Boulevard and San Pablo Avenue before midnight after a short chase, police said.
The suspect, 23-year-old Michael James Kelly, was arrested at the scene, but there was no one else in the car.
Police found the 3-year-old in safe condition about two hours later; she was safe with her mother the entire time. Oakland police identified the child's father as 26-year-old Edrick L. McCroey.
"That was misleading. Misleading the police in that manner is just ... it's absurd," said Willie Bass of El Cerrito. "The Amber Alert system shouldn't be abused. It's for the people that really need it. Kidnappings, and so forth. Anybody that does abuse it, actually, should be punished."
Marc Klaas, the father of Polly Klaas, was instrumental in helping the Amber Alert concept become law. He told KPIX 5 via Facetime call that the car owner betrayed the public's trust.
"It creates a cry wolf situation, which has always been a major concern of people that are running the Amber Alerts in the various states. So I would hope that the law can come down on this fellow some way and that there are consequences," said Klaas.
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