12-Year-Old Charged in Ashton Kutcher ‘Swatting’ Incident
“Swatting” is the unfortunate crime trend of people calling the police to report crimes occurring at a celebrity’s home when no such incident was actually taking place, in order to drive a police S.W.A.T. team to the house. Such a prank costs valuable public taxpayer resources.
The juvenile’s name was withheld due to his age. He’s due for arraignment on Friday at Eastlake Juvenile Court.
The incident involving Kutcher’s house in Hollywood took place on October 3, 2012, and involved a false report that armed men were inside. The boy was also charged with regards to a call made one week later at a Wells Fargo Bank on Wilshire. There was no indication from the D.A.'s office that the boy would be charged in conjunction to a prank call reportedly made on the home of Justin Bieber.
The "swatting" trend continued in January, however, with prank calls made on the homes of the Kardashians, Tom Cruise and Chris Brown. No arrests have been made yet in conjunction with those incidents. The Beverly Hills Police Department told omg! last month that they believed it was a case of copycat crimes.
Another interesting point made by the D.A. on Thursday was that the LAPD has been investigating the crime spree in conjunction with the FBI. In other words, there could still yet be more news on this disconcerting trend.
