A still image from a Leavenworth Chamber of Commerce webcam shows Chelan County sheriff's deputies and the Washington State Patrol descending on downtown Leavenworth after a phony armed burglary call Monday. Photo courtesy: NCW Life.
It sounds like an elaborate, well thought-out telephone call made to RiverCom
9-1-1 Monday afternoon that turned out to be a prank. Now, Chelan County sheriff’s detectives are banking on someone coming forward who knows about it or may have heard someone talking about it.
Sheriff’s Chief Ryan Moody says the person who made the call claimed to be from a security monitoring company, watching a live video surveillance of an armed burglary in progress. Three men inside a downtown Leavenworth business. The imposter told a dispatcher that the men were armed with handguns and had broken into a safe at the business.
Deputies responded, evacuated a nearby business and surrounded the building. Officers searched the building and verified there was nobody inside. They concluded that the 9-1-1 call was a hoax.
Chief Moody says detectives are now investigating the incident in order to identify the person who made the call.
Sheriff's Sgt. Rob Huddleston warned on Tuesday of a telephone scam reported by several people. He says the calls were made by someone spoofing the Sheriff’s phone number, asking for over-the-phone payment for missing jury duty.
"We handled a handful of calls, scam calls and they were all within two hours hours of each other," Huddleston added. "They (the caller) said that they had missed jury duty and they now have a warrant for their arrest, and there's a $5,000 fine but they'd be happy to take the five-thousand in payment right over the phone. Nobody lost any money in that."
"If it doesn't sound right, get a number and you can call them back," said Huddleston. "Try and verify it and it you can't get ahold of the Sheriff's Office."
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