Courtesy photo
Vicki Teneyck, 54, of Ormond Beach, was arrested Friday after telling deputies she made up a claim of being abducted.
ORMOND BEACH -- A 54-year-old Ormond Beach woman who claimed to be the victim of an abduction at the hands of a knife-wielding attacker is in jail after Volusia County Sheriff's investigators discovered that the woman's story was just that -- a story.
Vicki Teneyck claimed that while traveling along U.S. 1 near Ormond Beach Thursday night, she pulled to the side of the road because her nose started to bleed.
While opening her car door to get out, Teneyck said a man emerged and asked her if she was O.K., but then pulled out a knife, forced his way into her car and ordered her to drive from bank to bank to withdraw money.
The woman said that she finally managed to get away from her attacker on Friday morning, when she drove to the Ormond Beach Police Department to report the crime.
The Sheriff's Office was called in to investigate because the alleged crimes occurred outside the city.
Due to the seriousness of the allegations, several patrol deputies and investigators along with an Ormond Beach victim's advocate immediately got involved.
However, while interviewing the woman, deputies quickly discovered discrepancies in her story.
"After investigators unraveled the tale, Teneyck admitted making up the episode in an effort to conceal the fact that she had been stealing money from her mother's bank account to buy drugs," Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson said.
Investigators arrested Teneyck and charged her with filing a false report. According to Florida statutes, the charge is upgraded to a felony because Teneyck falsely claimed to have been the victim of a capital felony, Davidson said.