Police: Woman fabricated baby’s kidnapping during spat with boyfriend

A woman is facing charges for allegedly fabricating the abduction of her infant son during a spat with the child's father.

Officers responded around midnight Sunday to the 1600 block of South Lawrence Street in South Philadelphia. They were met by a 20-year-old woman, who reported her boyfriend had come into her home and taken her 1-month-old son during an argument, police said.

The woman said her boyfriend was not the child's father, and that he did not have permission to care for her son, according to authorities.

Investigators tracked down both boyfriend and baby at a home on the 1400 block of North Felton Street in West Philadelphia, police said.

During questioning, the man told police he actually was the child's father, and had earlier arranged with his girlfriend to pick the child up at his sister's house.

But when the man didn't return with the child quickly enough, his girlfriend called police and concocted the kidnapping report, he told investigators. He furnished proof in the form of text messages from his girlfriend backing up his account, police said.

Detectives again spoke with the woman who initially filed the report. This time, she admitted her boyfriend was indeed the baby's father, and said she fabricated the abduction story to "cause problems" for the man, police said.

The woman, whose identity was not immediately released, will be arrested and charged with making false reports to law enforcement, police said.