4/28/13 - Police, fire, and medical crews were called out to an address in the City of Howell for a domestic dispute and possible homicide last night. However, the home specified by the caller turned out to be vacant. Howell Police Chief George Basar tells WHMI the call was a hoax. The response tied up emergency responders for a couple of hours, including the Sheriffâs Department and Michigan State Police, and there is currently no estimate as to how much taxpayer money was wasted as a result of the prank. Calling police out to homes for fake homicides, especially at celebrity homes, is currently a trend on the West Coast known as âswatting.â Basar says his department will do its best to find those responsible, but the call was a computerized message and swatters often run their calls through computer networks and proxies all over the world. This makes them difficult to find and prosecute. Photo courtesy Wesley Sheeks. (TD)
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