Police charge Pennsylvania man with making swatting call in CT as ‘prank’ against ex-girlfriend

A Pennsylvania man has been arrested and accused of making a swatting call in Connecticut that sent police officers to a home in Norwalk believing a woman was being held at gunpoint.

Maurice Smith, 39, faces charges of first-degree false incident report, risk of injury to a child and second-degree breach of peace, according to the Norwalk Police Department.

He turned himself in Thursday at the police department and was initially held on $150,000 bond pending his arraignment later in the day at Stamford Superior Court. During the hearing, a judge continued the case without a plea until July 11, court records show. Smith remains held in custody, according to court records.

Norwalk police said they were contacted on March 17 just after 8:30 a.m. by members of the New York Police Department who said they received a call reporting that a woman was being held at gunpoint at a home in Norwalk. Officers responded to the home, where they set up a perimeter and established contact with the occupants of the home.

Police said they quickly determined that the call was a hoax.

Investigators later found that Smith called in the hoax as a prank targeted toward his ex-girlfriend, according to police. Authorities obtained a warrant for his arrest before he turned himself in.

“Swatting is a dangerous act that involves someone making a false report to emergency services to initiate a serious law enforcement response,” Norwalk police Lt. Tomasz Podgorski said in a statement Friday. “Anyone with information about these incidents is asked to contact the Norwalk Police Department.”