Police respond to fake 'swatting' call

This week in Cops Corner...


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Feb. 28

Fake call

8:25 p.m. — First block of Stone Quarry Trail

Suspicious incident. Police received a call that a person was shot, and that others were in danger, but when they approached the house, with shields, they found that everything was fine. 

According to an incident report, one of the homeowners answered the door and invited the officers to come inside and check that everyone was OK, as she advised. The officers did so, and verified she was telling the truth. 

They quickly realized they had received a fake, or "swatting" call, the report states. The family told police this had happened before, and reported a suspicious social media group chat that their teenage son had been added to before the call was made. In the group chat, an unknown account asked their son what he would do if he called SWAT again.

Screenshots of the messages were taken to the station for evidence.

March 2

The meal deal

7:47 p.m. — 100 block of South Nova Road

Larceny. An unknown man dined and dashed at a local restaurant, leaving a $47 unpaid bill in his wake.

The restaurant owner and employees advised police that the man came in with bloodshot eyes and was wearing a baseball hat when he came in and sat at the bar. He ordered a drink, and then threw up in their bathroom.

Afterward, he asked for a salad to go, which the restaurant provided. According to the police report, he ate that at the bar with his bare hands. When he was asked to pay his bill, the man is reported to have become angry and asked the employee to take the check back. He then ran out and left without paying. 

March 5

Drive-thru rage

8:57 a.m. — 300 block of South Nova Road

Disturbance. A 20-year-old Daytona Beach woman called police after she was involved in a verbal incident with a 28-year-old Ormond Beach woman, who stepped in front of her vehicle in a local donut store drive-thru to prevent her from moving forward.

The Daytona woman told police that she was in the merging portion of the drive-thru and believed it was her turn to get in line. The Ormond woman, who was a passenger in another vehicle, disagreed. She began yelling obscenities before getting back in the car, where the driver cut in front of the Daytona woman.

The store's employees said the Ormond woman was using racial slurs and appeared to be the aggressor in the incident. The woman showed up to the police station an hour later, claiming that she had been struck in the leg by the Daytona woman's car, though she had not sought medical attention.  

Police reviewed surveillance footage and determined there was no way to tell if she was actually struck. Officers informed the Ormond woman that she should not have left the scene if she had been significantly injured. 

 

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