A man called 911 Thursday and falsely reported he was being held against his will in a room at the Peninsula Beverly Hills Hotel, police said.
A SWAT team went to the 9800 block of Santa Monica Boulevard shortly after 6 a.m. after a male “told police he was inside a hotel room being held against his will,” Beverly Hills police Lt. Elisabeth Albanese said.
[symple_googlemap title=”BH Hotel hoax” location=”9800 block of Santa Monica Boulevard, Beverly Hills, CA” height=”300″ zoom=”13″]
“Soon after receiving the call, police lost communication with the alleged victim,” Albanese said. “Police responded to the scene and activated Special Weapons and Tactics personnel, crisis negotiators and investigators based on the information provided by the caller.
“The preliminary investigation determined that the information provided by the 911 caller was in fact baseless,” Albanese said. “The caller was not being held against his will and there were no armed suspects inside the hotel.”
No injuries were reported and no weapons were found, police said.
“The incident is now being investigated as a report of a false emergency,” Albanese said. “Calling in a false emergency is a crime — a misdemeanor or felony depending on the circumstances — and the Beverly Hills Police Department takes these matters seriously.”
The man was not arrested. The investigation was continuing.
—City News Service