Reno – The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office is reporting that on Thursday April 18, 2019 at about 6:43 a.m. the Douglas County 911 Emergency Services dispatch center received a telephone call for assistance from the Live Violence Free crisis hotline center. The caller reported they received a telephone call from an unknown person, who identified herself as a 13-year-old female, that was in full-term pregnancy, believed she was in labor, and had been previously raped by her father. The caller reported being at a residence in the 500 block of U.S. Highway, in Zephyr Cove, Nevada.
As personnel from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and the Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District were arriving, the female said her father had a weapon, knew law enforcement was there, and was refusing to open the door. The female then reported her father would shoot law enforcement personnel if they came into the residence, and was pointing the weapon at her.
Due to the circumstances, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Team, the Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT), and Drone Unit responded. Subsequently, access into the residence was made and the interior of the residence was searched, finding no one in the residence.
Upon further investigation, this incident was determined to be a hoax, commonly known as “Swatting”, which is the action or practice of making a prank call to emergency services in an attempt to bring about the dispatch of a large number of armed police officers to a particular address. This practice in unlawful and very dangerous to all persons involved, and ties up and/or delays emergency response personnel from responding to other calls for service and emergencies.
The DCSO Investigations Division will be conducting a follow-up investigation and pursue criminal charges on the suspect in this case.
