Sheriff's deputies arrested an alleged prankster on Monday and accused him of planting a creepy teddy bear that looked like it was made of bloody human tissue, officials said.
Hector Corona Villanueva, 23, was booked on suspicion of causing a needless emergency response and planting phony evidence, according to a San Bernardino County Sheriff's statement.
The macabre scene unfolded in the Mojave Desert city of Victorville, at a bus stop near a gas station on Bear Valley Road — about 85 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles and 150 miles southwest of the Nevada state line, officials said.
A "doll that was possibly made of human skin" was found a little bit after noon on Sunday, according to a coroner's statement.
A deputy coroner investigator "determined this doll was made of a fabricated material and was not of human origin" before a forensic pathologist also "confirmed that the object was not human and contained no human tissue," the statement said.
"Our investigation found these dolls being sold on a website with the claim that the dolls are 'made of human skin,'” the coroner said.
The suspect, who lives in Victorville, took up precious first responder time, officials said.
“Incidents such as this take up valuable emergency resources and put the public at risk, possibly delaying response time to legitimate calls for service,” according to the sheriff’s department.
A South Carolina artist identified the scary toy as one of his creations.
Robert Kelly of Dark Seed Creations said he made that bear and confirmed to NBC News on Tuesday that he sold it via the e-commerce platform Etsy to Villanueva in Victorville.
The creepy teddy bear was reported to authorities by both a customer and employee of the gas station, a sheriff's spokesperson said. The buyer, Villanueva, did not call in his own alleged prank, officials said.
Kelly has made "dozens" of these teddy bears over two decades. And when pictures of the Victorville teddy bear started circulating on Sunday, Kelly said he knew instantly that it was one of his creations.
"I made the order, put in a box, sent it out and according to tracking, it was delivered (to Victorville) on the 12th," Kelly told NBC News. "And then on the 13th, last night, I started getting all kinds of messages."
Kelly, a longtime fan of "Hellraiser" director Clive Barker, said his products are made of latex and he has tinkered with various dyes to replicate the appearance of human skin.
"We've put skin on everything from guitars and teddy bears to couches," said Kelly, whose primary clients are haunted attractions, novelty stores and his Etsy store. "We use latex live castings. So we take live castings of actual human models, which adds to the reality of the item."
