A Florida teenager is facing charges after allegedly faking his own kidnapping and shooting himself in the leg as part of the hoax, according to officials.
Caden Speight, a 17-year-old from Citrus Springs, Florida, was arrested and charged on Tuesday with presenting false evidence, shooting into a conveyance, making a false report of a crime and possessing a firearm as a minor, in connection with the September incident, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
In the alleged staged kidnapping, officials say Speight purchased equipment at Walmart and searched on ChatGPT about “Mexican cartels” and “collecting his blood without causing pain.”
Speight has since bonded out of jail, according to a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office. An attorney representing the teenager did not immediately return a request for comment.
According to his arrest affidavit, Speight texted his parents and younger brother in a group chat on Sept. 25, saying he was being shot at.
“I need help being shot at 4 Hispanics armed white van one driver im hit,” the text read, according to the affidavit.
Authorities were then dispatched to the last location of Speight’s cellphone, according to the affidavit. There, deputies found a bullet hole through the windshield of Speight’s gray Chevy pickup truck, suspected blood, Speight’s severely damaged cellphone, drag marks in the dirt and bicycle tracks leading away from his car.
The sheriff’s office said in a statement that “a vast amount of MCSO resources and personnel, along with numerous other law enforcement agencies, were deployed to search for Speight and collect evidence at the alleged crime scene.”
Multiple agencies were involved to help locate Speight, including the FBI, the sheriff’s office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation, according to the affidavit. Authorities utilized helicopters and issued an Ambert Alert to assist with the search, the affidavit states.
The next day, Sept. 26, Speight was located at a parking lot adjacent to a Winn-Dixie and Advance Auto Parts in Williston, Florida, the affidavit states. He was found armed with his father’s firearm, a bicycle and other belongings.
Speight allegedly told authorities that the bicycle was not his and was dumped off with him by his kidnappers, the affidavit states. He claimed he was on his way home from school the day before when a white van pulled up next to him, causing him to pull off to the side of the road, where his car was left and where he was kidnapped, according to the arrest affidavit.
The teen had a gunshot wound on his right leg, which shattered his femur and required medical treatment, authorities said in their statement. When asked when he was shot, Speight said it occurred about 30 minutes prior and right before he was dumped on the side of the road, according to the affidavit.
“The suspect would spontaneously utter, they dumped me, shot me, and left. The suspect would continue to state they used him last night and wanted him to fight,” the affidavit reads. “When asked what gun the suspect was shot with, he confirmed it was his father’s firearm.”
Authorities said they learned that Speight purchased the bicycle and other camping supplies at Walmart the day before, according to the affidavit. The affidavit states that authorities also found a tent and a sleeping bag Speight purchased at Walmart in a clothing donation box in the parking lot where they found Speight on Sept. 26.
Deputies said they also found a Gatorade bottle near Speight’s abandoned vehicle that contained his blood, according to the affidavit. Authorities said they believe Speight put his own blood in the bottle and sprayed the blood near his abandoned truck, the affidavit states. Among Speight’s recent ChatGPT searches were “how to take blood out of myself for medical purposes without it hurting,” according to the affidavit.
Speight’s parents told authorities that he mentioned wanting to run away a few months ago, but that “there were no recent signs he wanted to run away and there were no signs of him being upset,” according to the affidavit. The teen’s parents could not immediately be reached for comment.
The affidavit concludes that Speight “unlawfully possessed his father’s firearm as a juvenile, discharged it into his father’s vehicle, fabricated evidence to suggest a crime occurred, and willfully sent his family false information by text message, thereby causing that misinformation to be conveyed to law enforcement.”
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