EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — A 19-year-old woman has been arrested for falsely reporting a missing child for police to find her friend’s stolen vehicle sooner, according to court documents obtained by KTSM.
Stacie Dashay Marie Smith was arrested on Sunday, June 30 and booked into the El Paso County Detention Facility under a $5,000 bond.
On June 30, El Paso Police officers were dispatched to 14276 Lasso Rock Dr. to a report of a stolen vehicle, according to court documents.
A second report was placed by Smith from the same address for a reported stolen vehicle and said her one-year-old child was believed to be in said vehicle, according to court documents.
Officers arrived at the scene and obtained the name and photo of Smith’s child, according to court documents. Smith provided officers only one photo of her child with the baby’s birthdate of Nov. 23, 2023.
Police were able to find the stolen vehicle, but the child was not there, according to court documents.
El Paso Police’s Crimes Against Persons Unit was called to assist in the investigation of the missing child and informed Smith that her child was not in the vehicle, according to court documents.
Smith admitted to lying to officers and said her child did not exist, according to court documents.
The baby photo Smith provided to police was one of her friend’s child, not hers.
Smith told police that she just started living with her friend and when the vehicle was stolen, she was told by said friend to report a missing child for police to find the vehicle sooner.
According to court documents, Smith stated “she felt like she had to help her friend out,” so she lied about having a child and the child being missing to help with the recovery of her friend’s vehicle.
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