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Phone Hoax Leads SWAT Team To 'Shocked' Grosse Pointe Park Couple's Home

GROSSE POINTE PARK (AP) — It was an extraordinary wake-up call in suburban Detroit: an armored vehicle, a police SWAT team and a public call for the owner to peacefully surrender.

Grosse Pointe Park police got a call Thursday about a murder-and-hostage situation. It turned out to be a hoax.

"It just didn't seem like it could be real," homeowner Paul Chesney said about police assembled outside. "I still didn't believe what was happening."

His wife, Carla Chesney, was just as stunned.

Paul "opened up the door and the guns were in his face. He had to get down," she said. "And then they talked to me and I had a spoon in my hand and they said, 'Put the spoon down!'"

Grosse Pointe Park police Chief David Hiller said his department was told a man had killed a woman and was holding two hostages. It was determined to be a fraudulent attempt to draw police, known as "swatting."

"Can you imagine answering your front door and finding a SWAT vehicle on your lawn? ... They were shocked and fully cooperative," Hiller said.

Hiller said his department will try to track down the caller.

"But it's pretty complicated and they could just bounce us all around the Internet," he said. "We could just end up chasing ghosts."

Damon Perry lives behind the Chesney home and could hear the commotion.

"Seems like a nice guy,' Perry said. "A dog, maybe two dogs."

 

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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