A young boy from Southern California is suspected of making false emergency calls that prompted police to send SWAT teams to celebrities' houses in Los Angeles.
- Dec 19, 2012
AceShowbiz - The culprit who made hoax calls about false home invasions in Justin Bieber and Ashton Kutcher's residences has been found. An unidentified minor was arrested by LAPD officers at his parents' home in Southern California.
Police said they had strong evidence that linked the young boy to a series of swatting pranks that targeted celebrities like singer Justin Bieber and actor Ashton Kutcher. Detailed info about the juvenile's identity, age and background was not revealed.
"We take these incidents very seriously because of the tremendous potential for something tragic to occur," LAPD Cmdr. Smith told LA Times. "We are working with the city attorney's office to see if the parents of this boy can be held financially responsible for the cost of the police response."
On October 9, police sent cars and helicopters to Bieber's residence after they received a call that there's a man waving a gun in the area. A week earlier, a team of police forces went to Kutcher's home with guns drawn in response to a distress teletext message usually used by a deaf person.
Similar alarming prank calls that prompted authorities to send enforcements to Miley Cyrus' and Simon Cowell's houses have also been made. Police detectives continued probing into the swatting incidents involving the two celebrities and other citizens and businesses in Los Angeles.
Someone called 911 on August 1 night to inform that a kidnapping was happening inside Cyrus' house. The caller said that one person was shot. LAPD responded quickly by swarming the house and sending a chopper to the scene to set up a perimeter. Turns out, the house was empty.
In the Cowell incident, a woman made an emergency call reporting that a person was duct taped and tied up in his bathroom. Like the other pranksters, she successfully tricked police into sending SWAT team to the house. That's why all of those incidents were called "swatting."
