California

California Police Investigating If ‘Mom Influencer' Made False Kidnap Report on Latino Couple

The woman said a couple tried to kidnap her children in the parking lot of a Michaels store, but police said evidence supports the couple's version of events

Downtown Petaluma, Calif.
Photo by George Rose/Getty Images

Police in California are investigating whether a woman made a false report when she told officers that a couple tried to kidnap her two young children in the parking lot of a Michaels craft store in Petaluma, NBC News reports.

The police department said its investigation of the Dec. 7 incident found that evidence supports the couple's version of events. During a press conference Friday, the couple, who are Latino, denied the allegations against them, according to the Argus-Courier.

Police said that a woman told officers that a couple followed her into Michaels just before 10:30 a.m. and trailed her as she shopped with her children in a stroller.

A week after the incident was reported, police said it learned that the woman had made a now-deleted social media video -- viewed millions of times -- about what happened and included "significant information" that she had not shared with officers.

Read the full story at NBCNews.com.

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