Crime & Safety
Police: Prank 911 Call Was No Laughing Matter
Call reporting shots fired inside a Hayes Street home turned out to be a hoax. Bethlehem Police are investigating.
A 911 call in which a prankster reported shots fired inside a home in South Bethlehem Wednesday morning is not being treated as a laughing matter by the Bethlehem Police Department.
Police are investigating the source of the hoax, according to the daily crime summary issued by the department Thursday.
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According to WFMZ, a full contingent of emergency personnel – the police emergency response team, patrol officers, detectives and Bethlehem EMS – surrounded the house at 632 Hayes St.
The bewildered residents were evacuated from their home, but as it turned out, there was no emergency. The prank is known as swatting for the emergency response these kinds of calls generate. Police say it is dangerous and a prosecutable crime.
Find out what's happening in Bethlehemfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
"You're making up an emergency, forcing emergency responders to respond, endangering their lives. You're also endangering the lives of the people in the home," Bethlehem Det. Lt. Mark DiLuzio told WFMZ.
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