A 16-year-old could be charged criminally after police and his mother concluded that he made up a story about his home being invaded by gun-toting men and a kidnapping.

Police were dispatched to a home on Westwood Avenue, near Delphos Avenue, at about 8:45 p.m. Tuesday on a report of a kidnapping with a child abducted and shots fired, Dayton Lt. Wendy Stiver said.

Police found the teenager and a 7-year-old sibling had been left unsupervised and quickly surmised the story the teenager told them — that someone broke in, took a 40-inch TV, then fled after firing gunshots — was not true, Stiver said.

“We don’t believe the story, the mother doesn’t believe the story, and the child may be facing charges,” Stiver told News Center 7.

A K-9 was brought to the scene to search for three male suspects the teen identified as being the armed invaders. The dog tracked the scent right back to the teen’s home on Westwood Avenue.

“The juvenile is suspected of theft and the case will be forwarded to the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office, juvenile division,” Stiver said, stopping several times during the interview with News Center 7 by the voice of the mother, who could be heard in the house, yelling at the teenager.

“We have limited resources right now, and it’s difficult to conduct business when we’re being drawn away by reports like this,” Stiver said, noting that a call to police about the kidnapping of a child is serious business that will draw a heavy police response.

“That tied up a lot of our resources for a long time,” Stiver said. “It’s inexcusable.”