In today's body camera video, we're covering the case of how an 11-year-old's prank led to a felony charge.
We're a news agency committed to delivering factual information about police procedures and local news events. This video aims to educate the public without bias. Our goal is to empower viewers with a clear understanding of what's happening in their communities.
This is news piece in the public's interest. This video was created with the intent of educating the public.
We're a news agency committed to delivering factual information about police procedures and local news events. This video aims to educate the public without bias. Our goal is to empower viewers with a clear understanding of what's happening in their communities.
This is news piece in the public's interest. This video was created with the intent of educating the public.
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NewsTranscript
00:00So there was a text message from someone saying they were behind a car, their friend was kidnapped
00:05from a Chick-fil-A in Palm Coast, and they were on the interstate behind the car.
00:09Everything on your phone is telling me that you made a phone call 9-1-1.
00:13But I didn't talk.
00:14Because you did something f***ing stupid!
00:27On July 26, 2023, dispatchers in Volusia County receive urgent 9-1-1 texts from a driver who
00:34claims to be following an armed kidnapper's van on the interstate.
00:38When they trace the phone, however, they learn the messages are coming from a residence in Port
00:43Orange, turning a plea for help into an unexpected lesson in consequences.
00:48I'm telling you this right now, you're going to take this as a lesson at 11 years old that
00:52if you do something stupid in the future, you're going to enjoy those cuffs.
00:57The following report is based on official police records,
01:00and the footage has mostly never been seen before until now.
01:03It's just after 9.45am when 9-1-1 begins receiving texts from someone named Lily Lee Combs.
01:10She claims to be following a kidnapper's van on the interstate,
01:13and updates are still pouring in.
01:16Volusia County deputies, multiple area police departments, and a helicopter
01:20join the urgent search.
01:22When they fail to locate the van,
01:24a deputy tries calling the phone number that's been sending the text messages.
01:28Hello?
01:29Hello?
01:33Hi, is this the... what's your name?
01:38Can you hear me?
01:41Hello?
01:42I'm trying to reach the person that called 9-1-1.
01:47Yeah, can you hear me?
01:51Please leave your message for three...
01:53Oh, it's got a voicemail.
01:54It says, aren't we confirming they're in a blue jeep?
01:56Victim is in a white van.
01:58They can see they are being restrained through the windows.
02:02At the turnaround?
02:04A new text message comes through, including a detailed description of the suspect,
02:08who's described as having brown hair and blue eyes.
02:12How is she behind them?
02:14She's seeing this happen, and she knows what color eyes he has.
02:18That's weird.
02:20Brown hair and blue eyes, but she's behind them?
02:23Like, if she was, like, saw the incident, or saw a witness to kidnapping,
02:27or, I mean, like, how would you even be following them and know any of this?
02:32Yeah, are we confirming they're in a blue jeep?
02:34Victim in a white van.
02:36Of course it's a white van.
02:37Like, it just...
02:38Yeah.
02:38You know what I mean?
02:39I'm not saying it's by any means, but it's just...
02:41Yeah.
02:41I've had calls like this before.
02:43Their suspicions about the text messages are all but confirmed
02:47when a GPS trace on the phone comes back to a residence in Port Orange,
02:51indicating the texter is not traveling on the highway, as they claim.
02:55Deputies quickly head to the residence to investigate.
03:00Hi there, how you doing?
03:01Is this your residence, sir?
03:02This is.
03:03Do you have a daughter or a child at the home named by Lily Lee?
03:07No.
03:07No?
03:08Anybody home?
03:09Yeah, my wife, my kids.
03:11We just got home from Pennsylvania.
03:15I have an Ava and a Mikey.
03:17Ava and a Mikey?
03:18Yep.
03:21Would you like to see them?
03:23The deputies follow him to his house, where he informs his wife what's going on.
03:28It was the 911 call?
03:30Yeah, so somebody called in, or, well, they called in.
03:33Sorry, I'm in my pajamas.
03:34You're fine.
03:35Someone texted into 911 that someone was getting kidnapped and they were on the interstate,
03:39but then when they went and did like a location on the phone, the address was showing up here.
03:44As their daughter Ava steps into the garage, her phone rings.
03:48The deputy answers it, leading to a shocking conclusion.
03:52Hello?
03:54Hold on.
03:55Who's this?
03:57Police and County Sheriff's Office.
03:58All right, cool.
03:59This is Deputy Asby, the Sheriff's Office.
04:01Oh, good.
04:02You got her.
04:03Yep.
04:04All right.
04:05Okay, is your dad home?
04:06Yep, I got both her parents here.
04:08Yeah, we're gonna ask the Sheriff to go away in a second.
04:11Thanks.
04:11Bye-bye.
04:12What happened?
04:14Let me see this phone.
04:16Yeah, so all these other numbers.
04:19So there's a phone call out to 911.
04:21There's a phone call out to 911?
04:22Yeah.
04:22Right there.
04:22What time?
04:23That's her calling it.
04:24There's 911 again right there.
04:26This phone was called in.
04:26These numbers calling back in are no caller ID.
04:29You did.
04:30Well, there's three different times that 911 was called out from this phone.
04:339 30 a.m.
04:35That was the initial call.
04:36Twice.
04:38Well, I didn't mean to call that because I...
04:41But you did.
04:42Reports show that the number belonging to Ava dialed 911 at 9 30.
04:47When asked where the emergency is,
04:49a female identified as possibly a juvenile responded,
04:53I'm sorry, I dialed the wrong number.
04:55The same phone number would later begin texting 911 to report the kidnapping.
05:01When did...
05:01I'm just so confused.
05:02I'm sorry.
05:04You got a message about an interstate?
05:07So there was a text message from someone saying they were behind a car.
05:11Could I call this back?
05:12Who was kidnapped.
05:13That's...
05:13Their friend was kidnapped from a Chick-fil-A in Palm Coast,
05:17and they were on the interstate behind the car.
05:19What time is this?
05:20Today?
05:21Yeah, this is today.
05:22Oh, we got home at 2 30 in the morning.
05:24Okay.
05:25So we weren't...
05:26We were here the whole time since 2 30.
05:29We were on the interstate coming home from...
05:32Pennsylvania.
05:34Right.
05:34You called out.
05:35We showed up here like 2 10 to 15.
05:37Okay.
05:38And we went to bed.
05:38But these 911 calls...
05:40For this morning.
05:41You were calling 911?
05:44You were.
05:44Don't look surprised.
05:45You did.
05:47Did they say anything to you?
05:50No one said anything to you?
05:52Did you say...
05:52Ava, you have to explain what happened here.
05:54Something's going on.
05:55What did you know?
05:56What do you know?
05:56Mikey, go inside.
05:57Ava, get your shoes on.
05:58Come out here.
06:00I didn't hear anything.
06:01Pull me across the door, okay?
06:04You're not in trouble.
06:04We just need to know what happened.
06:06I just need to know and understand because this is like weird.
06:09Because we got to make sure that there's not somebody that's being kidnapped on the interstate
06:12and we're trying to find them and...
06:13Open your mouth if you said something on the phone.
06:16I didn't say anything.
06:18Everything on your phone is telling me that you made a phone call to 911.
06:21But I didn't talk.
06:23While one deputy heads to her cruiser,
06:25she greets officers from the Port Orange Police Department
06:28who have just arrived at the scene.
06:30Hey guys, how's it going?
06:32Oh, I was just trying to make heads or tails of that damn call.
06:36There's some clean notes in it.
06:37My God.
06:37Yeah, we're trying to figure it out.
06:38We're with the parents and the daughter and I guess the daughter did have...
06:41We pulled up the call log and she did call 911.
06:44So the whole armed kidnapping thing and all that stuff is bogus or...
06:49There was no text evidence when we looked through it.
06:51So I don't know if she deleted it real quick or if it's like through an app.
06:55Yeah, it seems...
06:56It's probably just the swatting thing.
06:57She's like 10 years old.
06:59Wow, okay.
06:59Yeah.
07:00While Ava's parents demand an explanation,
07:03deputies prepare to Mirandize the 11-year-old
07:06who has yet to fully grasp the gravity of the situation.
07:09You just lied to the police and mommy and daddy.
07:13You just lied to everybody.
07:14You have three shots here, that's stupidity.
07:18Tell them what you just said to us.
07:19Open your mouth.
07:20I'm telling you, open your mouth.
07:23She's going to read you something
07:25and then we're going to ask you some questions.
07:26What's your name?
07:28Ava.
07:29How old are you, Ava?
07:32All right, Ms. Ava, you have the right to remain silent.
07:35Anything you say can be used against you in court.
07:37You have the right to talk to a lawyer for advice before we ask you any questions
07:40and to have the lawyer present during any questioning.
07:43If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you
07:48before my questioning, if you wish.
07:50We're reading her her rights.
07:57Because you did something stupid.
08:00Let me explain something here, okay?
08:03You can cry about this.
08:04What you've done here is a felony, okay?
08:09It's a felony crime and you probably had 20 law enforcement officers at least,
08:13a helicopter and all looking,
08:17all running with lights and siren on high speed to try to apprehend
08:22or try to stop a serious forcible felony from happening.
08:26You know what happens if one of those officers crashes
08:30and gets killed on the way to responding to something that you did as a joke?
08:36So you better take this serious.
08:39Under pressure from both her father and the deputy,
08:42Ava offers an excuse for her actions, which doesn't sit well with the deputy.
08:48Ava, you need to tell the exact truth.
08:51I don't want a story.
08:52I don't care what it is.
08:53I want the exact truth.
08:55You can't make this go away by being quiet.
08:57The only thing that's going to happen to you
09:00is you're going to end up in a pair of handcuffs going to our juvenile facility.
09:04I'm not going to make mince any words with you.
09:06That's a very distinct possibility of what can happen here today.
09:10Don't look at your mother.
09:11She didn't have any part in this.
09:13This was all you.
09:14Yesterday, my brother said something that I don't remember.
09:18He's maybe talking about it.
09:20And then I ended up doing it today.
09:23And he came out like this.
09:24And then...
09:25Was he part of planning this with you?
09:28No, he just said it.
09:29And then...
09:30What did he say?
09:31He said, what style of woman am I?
09:34This is your brother?
09:35Yeah, he said this was the style of my mother.
09:38Well, when we're done, will you wait a minute?
09:40I'm going to go to the bathroom.
09:42So you're trying to blame this on your brother?
09:47Did he...
09:47Was he with you when you made this call?
09:50No.
09:52Okay, was he with you when you made these texts?
09:54No.
09:56Okay, then you did this.
09:58You were on your own for this.
10:00And if your brother's seven years old, you're not going to blame your seven-year-old brother for this.
10:04That's what I'm saying.
10:06You're not going to blame your seven-year-old brother for this.
10:08You're not going to blame your seven-year-old brother for this.
10:10This was all your decision.
10:16Okay.
10:18So call 9-1-1 to say what?
10:20What did he say to call 9-1-1?
10:22So did...
10:24So can I ask...
10:26What if he told you to go up on the roof and jump off the roof?
10:28Would you do that?
10:30So what's the difference?
10:32Deputies will soon discover the startling truth behind Ava's fabricated story.
10:36For now, Ava's mother raises concerns about recent questionable activity on Ava's phone,
10:40but it does little to impact the situation.
10:42So I have something really weird with that phone.
10:44When we first got that,
10:46the phone kept ringing non-stop,
10:48ringing in to me,
10:50and I was picking it up
10:52and there was people talking
10:54and I'm like,
10:56hello, hello,
10:58and non-stop,
11:00every four seconds,
11:02there was a call coming in with random numbers
11:04and I didn't know them,
11:06and I was saying,
11:08like, as soon as we got that phone number...
11:10That has nothing to do
11:12with what went on today.
11:14Questions about her intentions lead
11:16to a harsh reality check from the deputy,
11:18who forces Ava to consider
11:20the possible consequences of the false report.
11:22What were you planning
11:24on happening out of it?
11:30Well, what did you think
11:32was going to happen when you said
11:34somebody was kidnapped and somebody had a gun?
11:36What did you think was going to happen?
11:40Did you have any thoughts
11:42about how many,
11:44how much of the law enforcement resources
11:46in this area you were going to take up
11:48by doing that?
11:50You probably never thought of that, right?
11:52Did you think of the men and women
11:54that have families at home
11:56that are driving 90 or 100 miles an hour
11:58with their lights and siren on
12:01and you're trying to save somebody
12:03who's a victim of an armed kidnapping
12:05that they could be involved in a traffic crash
12:07and be seriously injured or killed
12:09because you wanted to make a joke?
12:11Does that seem funny to you?
12:13Would that be funny if that happened?
12:15Because I can tell you that would be
12:17even more serious than what you're
12:19looking at right now.
12:21You've physically seen your father
12:23walk up to sheriffs, military,
12:25everybody, thank you for your service,
12:27and then you do s*** like this?
12:29Though it wasn't captured on camera,
12:31reports state that Ava admitted to getting
12:33the idea to prank 911 from a
12:35YouTube challenge, and a deputy
12:37attempts to get more details.
12:39Where was this video that you saw?
12:41Where was it?
12:43On YouTube?
12:45Do you remember who the creator was or who the poster was?
12:47What it was about?
12:51What do you mean by all of this?
12:53This is in what?
13:03So it was a video about
13:05the Palm Coast Chick-fil-A.
13:07That's it? That's all the video was about?
13:09Gotcha.
13:11So, yep. So you saw a video
13:13that somebody made about
13:15how fun it would be
13:17to call 911 or text 911
13:19and say that somebody's got a gun,
13:21somebody's trying to get
13:23hurt. You thought it'd be
13:25fun to recreate that.
13:27Is that what you were trying to do?
13:29Yeah.
13:31So you saw a video that somebody
13:33made about how fun it would be
13:35to call 911 or text 911
13:37and say that somebody's got a gun,
13:39somebody's trying to get hurt.
13:41You thought it'd be fun to recreate that.
13:43Is that what you're telling me?
13:45Okay.
13:47Okay.
13:49However, Ava is about to realize
13:51an apology won't be enough
13:53to escape the consequences.
13:55Meanwhile, one deputy reveals
13:57that he was able to reach Ava by phone
13:59just before their arrival
14:01and got a less than friendly response
14:03from the young girl.
14:05She told me to ask myself and stop responding.
14:07Caught her up?
14:09Like, got her caught up.
14:11Like, hey, you know what's up? The jig's up.
14:13That's when she started
14:15doing the rejections.
14:17Based on Ava's statements,
14:19deputies decide there's enough probable cause
14:21to arrest Ava and prepare to take
14:23the 11-year-old into custody.
14:25I'm not going in the car!
14:27I'm not going in the car!
14:29I'm not going in the car!
14:31I'm not going in the car!
14:33I'm not going in the car!
14:35I'm not going in the car!
14:37I'm not going in the car!
14:43I'm not leaving!
14:45I'm not leaving!
14:59Dad, it hurts!
15:01So stop, listen to me, Ava, stop struggling, okay?
15:09They're not going to hurt you.
15:12Listen carefully to what's going to happen here.
15:14No one's going to hurt you.
15:16You're going to sit in the car for now, okay?
15:18If you go somewhere, what it's going to involve
15:20is taking pictures, taking fingerprints,
15:22and then they're going to call your parents
15:24to come and get you.
15:25So don't make the situation any worse.
15:28They'll be up shortly after that.
15:31No, you can't go in the car with them.
15:33If they cuff you, it's going to happen.
15:34They can't, they can't, it just can't happen.
15:37I'm telling you this right now,
15:38you're going to take this as a lesson at 11 years old
15:41that if you do something stupid in the future,
15:42you're going to enjoy those cuffs.
15:44I'm not going to do this again.
15:46Ava is placed into the back of the police car
15:48where her father delivers a few hard truths.
15:51I'm just warning you,
15:53you're not going to sit here for a couple hours.
15:55They're going to be bringing you into a building,
15:57fingerprinting you, doing all sorts of stupid s***
16:01for your stupid s***.
16:02Your life just changed, kid.
16:04Over a phone call, your life just changed.
16:07Minutes later, the reality of the situation
16:09continues to have an emotional impact on her parents.
16:13This is the best punishment for her right now.
16:16It sucks for us, and this is the best thing for her
16:18because she's thousand years old.
16:20It sucks for us?
16:21I work my s*** off with you to keep this kid doing stuff
16:24normal like we did as kids, and this is the s*** she does.
16:28According to a statement
16:29from the Volusia County Sheriff's Office,
16:3111-year-old Ava was charged
16:33with making a false police report
16:35concerning the use of a firearm in a violent manner,
16:38a felony, and misuse of 911, a misdemeanor.
16:42After being processed at the Family Resource Center,
16:44she was later transferred
16:46to the Volusia Regional Juvenile Detention Center
16:48in Daytona Beach, Florida,
16:50an experience she is unlikely to forget.
16:53We requested more information about her case
16:56from the Volusia County Juvenile Court,
16:58and they said nothing is releasable.