AMBER Alert Cancelled In Alleged South LA Carjacking, Suspect Arrested
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) – An AMBER Alert issued in the search for a 16-year-old boy authorities feared was abducted during an alleged carjacking Thursday has been cancelled.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children issued the alert after authorities said 16-year-old Eric Coleman was reported missing around 4 p.m. Investigators initially stated Coleman was in a vehicle 31-year-old Kandice Johnson carjacked from Coleman's step-mother at gunpoint in South L.A.
A LAPD spokesperson told CBS2/KCAL9 Friday the car – a 2014 black Toyota Camry – was located and the suspect arrested in San Bernardino.
Detectives said the teen was not located; however, they now believe he was not abducted and was not the victim of a crime.
The AMBER Alert was issued across L.A. and Orange counties. Authorities said at the time Johnson should be considered armed and dangerous.
Update: The owner of the car later admitted to police that she made up the carjacking and kidnapping story in order to get police to help her get her car back from Kandice Johnson, whom she admitted had borrowed the car. Kandice Johnson was not charged with any crime. See July 11, 2017 news story at http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2017/07/11/fake-carjacking-causes-amber-alert/