By John Valenti
Newsday
WESTBURY, N.Y. — A 911 call to sheriffs in Florida from someone claiming to be a 10-year-old kidnap victim who had been shot in the neck led to a multistate investigation that ended with the arrest of a 14-year-old boy in a Westbury-area motel Saturday, New York State Police said.
The 14-year-old, who police said had taken “temporary residence” at the motel with his mother, admitted making the call — and was charged as a juvenile with falsely reporting an incident. He was issued a Nassau County Family Court appearance ticket, returnable on Wednesday, police said.
Police said State Police were contacted Saturday by the Broward County, Florida, sheriff’s office, who said a caller had claimed to be a 10-year-old who had been kidnapped and shot in the neck — but who had ended the call before providing a location. A trace determined the call had come from somewhere near the Southern State Parkway in Nassau. Police said troopers “frantically” tried to locate the caller, with assistance from Nassau County police, Suffolk police, the NYPD, Maryland State Police and police from Hempstead and Rockville Centre.
Eventually, police said, the call was traced to the motel, which was not identified. A woman there was questioned. Troopers said that she told them her son had access to the phone, and the 14-year-old subsequently admitted he’d made the call.
Police said that while investigators were on the scene a member of the motel housekeeping staff approached troopers — and, in an unrelated incident, reported a male guest had overdosed in a nearby room. Troopers responded, finding the man unresponsive with drugs, needles and other drug paraphernalia scattered about near him. Troopers were able to revive the man using Naloxone. He was transported to a hospital for treatment.
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