A teddy bear appeared to be wrapped in human flesh. Turns out it was a prank.
Hector Corona Villanueva, 23, of Victorville was arrested in connection to the macabre prank on charges of reporting an emergency knowing it to be false and intentionally and wrongfully planting evidence to falsely present as real, the San Bernadino Sheriff's Department reported.
Just after noon local time on Sunday, July 13, the sheriff's department said, Victorville Police Department officers responded to a suspicious circumstances call at the AMPM gas station on Bear Valley Road.
"Callers indicated a teddy bear made of what looked like human flesh was left in front of the business," the sheriff's office wrote in a news release.
An investigator with the San Bernardino County Coroner office responded and collected the teddy bear, officials said.
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Teddy bear found with 'human flesh' examined by coroner
After further examination, officials said, the sheriff-coroner department's office determined the teddy bear "is not made of any type of human remains or skin."
A motive in the case was not immediately known.
As of July 15, Villanueva was not listed as an inmate in the local jail.
It was not immediatly known whether he had obtained legal counsel in the case.
"Incidents such as this take up valuable emergency resources and put the public at risk, possibly delaying response time to legitimate calls for service," the department wrote. "We would like to thank those that reported information that was helpful during the investigation of this case."
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Victorville police at 760-241-2911 or sheriff's office dispatch at 760-956-5001. Callers wishing to remain anonymous are urged to call the We-Tip Hotline at 1-800-78CRIME or visit website at www.wetip.com.
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Teddy bear wrapped in what looked like human skin found outside store
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