Bloody Car Found That Prompted Dixon Investigation Was A Prank
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — It's the time for trick-or-treating but how do you know when the trick has gone too far?
Police say there's a fine line between a good Halloween scare and a false alarm, and that line was crossed on a Dixon parking lot.
"Why someone would dump fake blood on a car and leave it in a public place?" said Robert Thompson, Dixon Police Chief. "Is there someone lying in a ditch somewhere? Is there someone that's been hit by a vehicle?"
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It happened Sunday morning in the Safeway parking lot in Dixon. Police got the call about a car with a cracked windshield that was covered in what appeared to be blood.
"And they saw this parked in the parking lot and it upset quite a few people!" Thompson said.
Investigators towed the car, tested the blood and tried to find the owner.
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"We had detectives calling around to hospitals, to other police agencies: 'Do you have any unreported hit and runs? Do you have any bodies that we don't know where they came from?'" Thompson recounted.
But it turns out the blood was fake and the whole thing was a prank. Police got in contact with the owner who said he was just being artistic.
And over in the Bay Area, BART passengers didn't think it was funny when a man got on the train Monday with two chainsaws in his hands!
Police say 47-year-old Patrick Bingham, flicked the switch on one chainsaw several times and started yelling threatening comments. He's now behind bars.
"Halloween's not always the best thing because people kind of get too crazy!" said Ebonee Enoch, who lives in Sacramento.
And police say they don't have time to figure out what's real and what's fake before they take the time to investigate.
"We have what's in front of us and we will deal with that to make sure there is no threat to life or safety," Thompson said.
The best advice from police: Before you pull a prank, think about whether or not it could cause someone to panic. Thompson says if there is a perceived danger, police will respond accordingly.