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Philly man lied about kidnapped child to make police 'work harder' to find his stolen car

A 22-year-old Philadelphia man was charged with making a false report after he allegedly lied to police that a 4-year-old boy was in the back seat of his stolen Ford Escort to make officers "work harder" to find the car.

Marcus Fletcher, of the 5800 block of North Hope Street, told police that he was a pizza delivery driver and about 10:35 p.m. Monday his vehicle was stolen at gunpoint in the 4600 block of North Sydenham Street in the city's Logan section. His two assailants also took his wallet with ID and credit cards, a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, and $30 cash.

Fletcher told police his 4-year-old nephew was in his green 1995 Ford Escort. Police conducted an intense search and soon found the car parked, locked, and unoccupied in the 4300 block of North 16th Street.

Detectives then interviewed Fletcher, who gave conflicting accounts of the robbery and was unable to provide a detailed description of the child or his parents.

Police said Fletcher finally admitted that he lied about the nephew. He told detectives he had been robbed before and was unsatisfied with the resulting investigation, according to a police statement, "therefore he made up the aforementioned story to watch the police work harder."

The robbery was still under investigation, police said.