Beverly Hills Hotel Victim To Possible Swatting
BEVERLY HILLS (CBSLA) — Several police cars and a SWAT team descended on the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills on what turned out to be a false report of a hostage situation.
Police have cleared the streets surrounding the hotel, 9882 S. Santa Monica Blvd., after an all-clear was called on the possible swatting situation. Swatting is the practice of making a prank call to 911 to draw a SWAT team response.
Beverly Hills police say they received a call at about 6:30 a.m. from a man who said he was staying at the hotel, and armed men would not let him leave his room.
Little Santa Monica Boulevard alongside the hotel was closed off as patrol cars, a SWAT vehicle surrounded the area. Crisis negotiators and investigators also responded to the scene.
Police tried to make contact with the caller again, but after clearing the hotel, nothing was found.
According to Beverly Hills police, the preliminary investigation determined the information provided by the 911 caller was baseless, he was not being held against his will and there were no armed suspects inside the hotel.
The man was not arrested. The incident is now being investigated as a "report of a false emergency," police said.