Woman "Kidnaps" Herself to Avoid Work

One of my guilty pleasures is regularly reading Findlaw's "Legally Weird" column. It lets me wrap my mind about areas of law that I don't practice (like, as here, criminal law.) The following is a summary of a recent "Legally Weird" article. (I haven't figured out yet whether Westlaw has a bureau in the Sunshine State or its residents just are better candidates for Darwin Awards.)

When a Florida woman failed to return to her shift following her break, a concerned coworker called the woman's cell phone. The woman answered and told the caller that she had been kidnapped by her boyfriend. ***Six*** different law enforcement agencies responded. After several hours, the woman and her boyfriend were found sitting in a car... four miles from the work site. The woman admitted that she was not being held against her will. Instead, she simply did not want to return to work.

You may be wondering what the consequences are for leading Florida law enforcement officials on a wild goose chase for hours. According to "Legally Weird," police arrested both the woman and her beau for "false reporting of a commission of a crime." The pair are each facing up to a year in jail and $1,000 in fines. (I'm presuming that the concerned co-worker was not charged because someone determined that she wasn't part of the half-baked plan: that she merely called the police in good-faith reliance of what the woman wanting to avoid work told her.)

I'm curious about what level of checking, if any, law enforcement authorities do before engaging in a manhunt. For instance, would it have made a difference if the "concerned co-worker" was really the office busybody and the employee playing hookey for the rest of her shift just concocted a story that she thought no reasonable person would ever believe? Or what if "everyone" at work knew that the missing woman had a history of being less than truthful or had mental health issues? Also, would authorities have responded differently if the woman and/or her boyfriend had a lengthy police record? While I see the value of prompt response, is it generally a matter of "seek now, ask questions later"? Hopefully, a criminal law practitioner -- especially one from Florida -- can chime in and add some insight.

Read the entire "Legally Weird" article here.