A 12-year who has made prank phone calls to police back in October about there being armed men inside of Ashton Kutcher’s Los Angeles home is being sent to Juvenile Court.
The 911 call was received to police by a TTY device, which generally is used by deaf people to type text over the telephone, and police responded as if it were a true emergency.
When the police arrived at Ashton Kutcher’s home on Arrowhead Drive they brought out many heavily-armed officers. They briefly held some workers at gunpoint before reaching Kutcher, which prompted him to leave the set of Two and a Half Men to make sure his home and workers were safe where they concluded it was a hoax.
The young boy has also made a prank phone call to police a week later stating there was an emergency at a Wells Fargo Bank on Wilshire Boulevard which proved to be a hoax.
A 12-year old, whose name is not being release because he’s a minor, is headed to Eastlake Juvenile Court on Friday to face charges of two felony counts of making false bomb threats and two felony counts of computer intrusion.
The term is known as “swatting.” It refers to prank calls reporting a violent crime with the aim of earning a tactical police response that may include a SWAT team. According to Entertainment Weekly, other stars whose homes have been targeted in recent months include actor Tom Cruise, and singers Justin Bieber and Chris Brown.
In some instances, the hoaxers use technology that makes it appear that the 911 calls were made from inside the homes.
The Beverly Hills Police Department estimated that more than half of its emergency resources were occupied with the Jan. 17 swatting call that led them to Cruise’s home.
Los Angeles police said they believe the boy is responsible for making prank calls reporting violence at Justin Bieber’s Los Angeles home a week after the Kutcher incident. The 12-year old is also suspected of being involved in other ‘swatting’ incidents, but police did not say whether those involved celebrities.
The incident at Kutcher’s home cost the city an estimated $10,000 in wasted manpower and resources.
In a news release, police said multiple agencies including the FBI and Long Beach Police Department were involved in the investigation and that, “The swatting practice is extremely dangerous and places first responders and citizens in harm’s way.”
Police Called To Home Of Ashton Kutcher During Possible Home Invasion Robbery
Police Called To Home Of Ashton Kutcher During Possible Home-Invasion Robbery
Police were called to a home owned by Ashton Kutcher Wednesday afternoon after receiving reports about possible shots being fired. Police rush to Ashton Kutcher home after call of armed intruder.
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