California girl signaling for help from back seat of car was hoax, troopers say

STOCKTON, Calif. — It’s stressful enough to be pulled over by a state trooper. It’s even worse when the trooper has reason to believe the driver of a vehicle might be kidnapping a child.

A girl signaling “Help me. She’s not my mom!! Help!!” on a piece of paper from the back seat of a car near Stockton was only kidding, the California Highway Patrol said.

According to troopers, the sign was a hoax, and the girl's mother was unaware of the bogus plea for help, KTXL reported.

Troopers were not amused.

"Things that make you say hmmmm," the South Sacramento California Highway Patrol wrote in a Facebook post.

At 5:02 p.m. Saturday, CHP officials said they received reports of a girl, whose age was not revealed, holding the sign in the window, KTXL reported.

Six units were dispatched to track down the vehicle, and after a “high-risk enforcement stop,” the driver was pulled over, according to the Highway Patrol.

The driver was bewildered about the stop, and troopers determined the sign was a hoax. According to the Facebook post, the girl "thought it was a fun thing to do."

Mother and daughter were allowed to go on their way.

"This is a reminder that parents need to be aware of what their children are doing in the back seat at all times," the Highway Patrol wrote on Facebook. "Six CHP units were assigned to this call instead of responding to legitimate calls or patrolling their beats because of this hoax."