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Pranksters Lure SWAT Teams Through Phony Calls

Uploaded by: passivemode
Video Description:
It's called swatting. People call in phony hostage situations to get the SWAT team to respond to someone's home.
One North Texas victim said he and his wife received prank calls for months. Now, the suspects have pleaded guilty to federal charges in Dallas. Police say they used computers to make the phony calls seem real. In all, they made 60 calls and had 100 victims nationwide. One call took place on Ju
ne, 2006. Jim Proulx received an unwelcome wake-up call at one a.m. from the Cleburne Police SWAT Team. "There were two SWAT guys... aiming their M-14s," Proulx said. "They laid me on the ground, handcuffed me and then put me in the squad car." The SWAT officers were told Proulx called police, say
ing he shot and killed family members, was armed with an AK-47 and would kill his hostages if he didn't get $50,000 and transportation to Mexico. "We thought it was the worst," said Corporal Dale Abbott of the Cleburne Police Department's SWAT Team. "We already had reports that shots had been fired
." But after the SWAT team searched Proulx's house, he said, "They see I didn't shoot my wife... I don't have a hostage... And I'm no threat to them." It was a hoax. Federal prosecutors said Stuart Rosoff and at least five others in a party chat line have pleaded guilty to the conspiracy. The su
spects called police and duped them by disguising their own number with Proulx's, making it seem he was calling from his house. Cpl. Abbott said the SWAT team was at his house for hours. "This is not funny at all. It puts his life in danger. It puts our life in danger. We don't know what to expect
," he said. Prosecutors say another member of the group, Guadalupe Martinez, did the same thing to Proulx's daughter in Fort Worth. Prosecutors say she participated in the chat-room but wasn't charged. Rosoff's attorney, Victor Vital, said the swatting was all a game to his clients and other. He
said it was all about, "one-upmanship, who's the best, who's in control of the party line, who can SWAT who or get who the best." Proulx was lucky no one was hurt, especially in his condition. He said six months earlier, "I had just had open heart surgery." Proulx is fine now and said he is no long
er angry at the suspects. Rosoff's attorney said his client is sorry, and is cooperating with prosecutors. In exchange, he'll have similar charges in Michigan dropped. Another suspect, Chad Ward, will plead guilty to the conspiracy in federal court in Dallas on Thursday.

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