The Pueblo community is outraged after a man filed a bogus kidnapping report with police, just to get his stolen truck back.

When Daniel Reyes’ discovered that his Ford F-250 had been taken from the parking lot of Sunset Bowling Alley Wednesday evening, he told police that his 14-year-old cousin “Sandra Mendoza” was inside.

Working an active barricade situation on the north side of town, police split their resources to jump on the reported kidnapping case which they thought could be a life-or-death situation. Pueblo Police Department officers found Reyes’ truck two hours after it was reported stolen, but “Sandra” was not inside — prompting the issue of an Amber Alert.

Some citizens on the Pueblo police Facebook page said that they were worried for “Sandra,” a few even reported they couldn’t sleep over her disappearance.

“Oh my God, please find that little girl,” said one.

They advised police to shut down the roads leading out of town. The post was shared 659 times and garnered almost 150 comments.

Once news got out that the kidnapping report was fake, the duped folks were angry. Some suggested that Reyes should pay for the cost of the hours-long search and investigation.

In truth, Reyes’ truck had been stolen. But he concocted a story the about the kidnapping, according to Pueblo police.

The suspect who took Reyes’ vehicle is still at large. Instead, it’s Reyes who was arrested and remains in jail on suspicion of attempt to influence a public servant, a class 4 felony.

Reyes made his police report at 5:14 p.m. and the Amber Alert went out around 3.5 hours later.

“Approximately four hours into the investigation and search for ‘Sandra,’ information was called in that detectives followed up on. Detectives discovered the reported kidnapped girl had no relation to Daniel, and she was safe at home,” according to a news release.

Bianca Hicks, Pueblo Police Community Engagement Manager, said Reyes used a fake name and description, plus gave authorities a three-year-old photo of the girl when he made his alleged bogus report.

“The Amber Alert is a valuable tool for law enforcement agencies to disseminate information quickly and widely,” said Hicks. “We try to verify the info to the best of our ability to ensure it’s accurate but in cases like this you don’t want to sit on that. It’s very important to respond to those things as quickly as possible.”

Multiple law enforcement agencies worked on the case besides Pueblo, including the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office, the 10th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, Colorado State Patrol, Fountain Police Department, and El Paso County Sheriff’s Office.

“False reporting wastes countless hours of manpower and resources, not only in our community, but also in the surrounding areas limiting law enforcement’s ability to respond to additional needs,” Pueblo Police Chief Chris Noeller said.