Some text messages that reported a home invasion and shooting in Dixon, which led to a full-on response from the and the Solano Sherrif's Department SWAT team, came from oversees Dixon Police Chief Jon Cox said.
"The suspect sent the TTY from England," Cox wrote to Dixon Patch. "The investigation has been referred to the High Tech Crimes Task Force."
The Task Force is a multi-county collaborate that specializes in identity theft, child pornography and other crimes involving the use of computers, the Internet or technology.
The bogus report took place on the morning of Feb. 15. Someone sent text messages indicating that a home invasion was in progress at a home on Carpenter Court in Dixon.
The messages indicated that shots had been fired at the home and that someone had been shot in the neck. Police were led to believe that two suspects were inside the home, holding the family at gunpoint.
The severity of the reported crime prompted the Dixon Police Department to call in the assistance of the Sheriff's SWAT Unit, hence the term SWATing, which is generally anti-social behavior that's designed to divert police resources to the fake incident.
But when police arrived at the home on the morning of Feb. 15, at 4 a.m., they discovered that the family inside was safe and were not the victims of a home invasion. The family was also appreciative that police responded in the manner they did, Cox said.
Police were working alongside AT&T to discover from where the messages were sent, Cox said. Recently, police discovered that the messages were generated from a caller in England.
The incident is under investigation. Anyone who has information about this crime can contact the Dixon Police Department at (707) 678-7070.
