'Kidnap' game puts a scare in St. George

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Aug 8, 2006 | by Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News

St. George police officers don't find anything amusing about a game that requires you to "kidnap" your friends.

On Friday night, a woman called 911 claiming she saw a group of two men grab a teenage boy and throw him in the trunk of a car in front of a Wal-Mart store in the Bloomington area.

"Two ladies said they heard a scream for help. They turned and saw two men putting a boy into the trunk of a Honda, which drove away with the headlights off," St. George Police Sgt. Craig Harding said Monday. "She screamed 'Doesn't anyone see that?' and ran into Wal-Mart for help. She said she then prayed for the abducted child."

A short time later, a similar abduction was reported outside an Old Navy store in St. George. Police responded en masse, looking for the Honda that was kidnapping kids off the street. Officers were placed on the freeway onramps, and attempt-to-locate calls went out across police channels.

Officers spotted the car on St. George Boulevard and ordered all five people inside to get out. The driver was then questioned.

"He explained they were playing a game called 'fugitive,' " Harding said. "They captured the fugitive, put him in the trunk of the car and drove away."

Police cited the five teenagers for disorderly conduct, a class B misdemeanor.

"We have to assume it's an actual kidnapping," Harding said. "We do not think it's funny at all."

E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com