WESTLAND, Mich. (WXYZ) — A 70-year-old Westland man found his house surrounded by police and SWAT team members after someone made a fake emergency call claiming violence at his home.
Watch the video report from Tiarra Braddock:
Westland police responded to Cherry Hill Road on Tuesday night following a disturbing call to their non-emergency line.
"Listen to me: I'm going to do a bad thing," the caller told police.
"OK, what's going on, sir?" police responded.
"I have my wife tied up hostage and my daughter," the caller claimed.
Listen to the fake emergency call in the video player below:
The caller also claimed to have shot his wife, and a gunshot could be heard during the call.
When police arrived at the address provided, they found Clifford Laskosky, who quickly informed them he was alone in the home.
"I said I'm a 70-year-old man, I'm retired, I live alone and there's no commotion at this residence," Laskosky said.
Hear more from Clifford Laskosky in the video player below:
Laskosky, whose wife died in 2019 and adult son doesn't live with him, exited his home with his hands up as officers surrounded the property.
"I was thinking I am so glad that I acted the way I did because if I would've did anything exotic to their view, they might've felt compelled to defend themselves and I would've been a statistic," Laskosky said.
The incident is a clear example of "swatting," when someone makes a false report to police that leads specifically the SWAT team to someone's location.
"If it was a joke, it's a very sick joke," Laskosky said.
A similar swatting call was also made to Monroe police on Tuesday night.
"We were in some ways glad that what was reported was untrue, but we're certainly frustrated with the process we had to go through to find that out," said Chad Tolstedt, director of public safety for the city of Monroe.
Tolstedt warned that people who make swatting calls can be charged with making a false report, which is a felony.
"They could ultimately face some serious jail time on this," Tolstedt said.
Laskosky remains confused about why someone would target his home.
"I don't understand why someone would put somebody else in harms way," Laskosky said.
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