arnisador
03-29-2008, 12:32 PM
Washington teen sentenced in SWAT prank (http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-swat28mar28,1,2641.story)
A Washington state teenager has been sentenced to three years in a California prison for tricking 911 dispatchers into sending a SWAT team to the Orange County home of a randomly selected family.
[...]
Ellis was arrested last year after hacking into a telephone network and impersonating a caller from a Lake Forest home, saying that he had killed someone in the house and was threatening to shoot others. The technique in which a prank call is made to 911 dispatchers is known among hackers as "SWATting."
The Sheriff's Department dispatched a SWAT team and surrounded the home with dozens of officers, dogs and a helicopter.
As the children of Stacey Cerwin-Bates and Doug Bates slept, Doug Bates thought he heard a prowler outside and grabbed a kitchen knife.
When he entered the backyard, deputies armed with assault rifles confronted Bates and handcuffed him and his wife until officers were able to determine that the report was fake.
It's a scary thought that someone might do this--there's so much potential for someone on either side to be hurt. With the knife in his hand he could have been shot. I don't think 3 years is enough given what could have happened.
More details:
Mukilteo man held in alleged hacking incident (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003955611_hacker17.html)
In the end, the investigators said they discovered evidence that he committed the scam in at least three other states — Arizona, Washington and Pennsylvania — since 2005.
A Washington state teenager has been sentenced to three years in a California prison for tricking 911 dispatchers into sending a SWAT team to the Orange County home of a randomly selected family.
[...]
Ellis was arrested last year after hacking into a telephone network and impersonating a caller from a Lake Forest home, saying that he had killed someone in the house and was threatening to shoot others. The technique in which a prank call is made to 911 dispatchers is known among hackers as "SWATting."
The Sheriff's Department dispatched a SWAT team and surrounded the home with dozens of officers, dogs and a helicopter.
As the children of Stacey Cerwin-Bates and Doug Bates slept, Doug Bates thought he heard a prowler outside and grabbed a kitchen knife.
When he entered the backyard, deputies armed with assault rifles confronted Bates and handcuffed him and his wife until officers were able to determine that the report was fake.
It's a scary thought that someone might do this--there's so much potential for someone on either side to be hurt. With the knife in his hand he could have been shot. I don't think 3 years is enough given what could have happened.
More details:
Mukilteo man held in alleged hacking incident (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003955611_hacker17.html)
In the end, the investigators said they discovered evidence that he committed the scam in at least three other states — Arizona, Washington and Pennsylvania — since 2005.