Seen At 11: An Admitted 'Swatting' Hoaxer Talks About His Actions
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A Connecticut man faces five years in prison for swatting two high schools, and it has also happened in New Jersey and the UConn campus in Storrs.
Matthew Tollis, 22, admitted that he made hoax 911 calls that led to lockdowns at the schools and tied up police resources for hours. And he's not the only one -- such swatting incidents are increasingly common.
As CBS2's Tony Aiello reported, the phone calls bring first responders, and sometimes SWAT teams to a business, home, or school.
For one young man, swatting was a stupid move that almost ruined his life.
"I didn't think about the time I'd have to spend behind bars; the amount of money my family would waste on legal fees and bail. I didn't think it through," Rodney said.
Rodney was 18 when he made a hoax 911 call to report men with guns at a rest stop on the New Jersey Turnpike.
The call prompted New Jersey State Police to stop the van he was traveling in with fellow students.
They were ordered to evacuate, one at a time, at police gunpoint.
"If one of my friends would've been injured or shot by police, or someone somewhere needed the police and they wasn't able to be helped because the resources were tied up with my prank, it's definitely a reality that could've happened," Rodney said.
Looking back, he still struggles to understand why he made the hoax 911 call.
"Between boredom and being immature. A lot of people do it out of revenge. I definitely thought that I was smarter than law enforcement," he said.
He had removed the SIM card from his cellphone before dialing 911, thinking authorities could never trace him.
It took three months, but they found him.
"I definitely didn't think about my grandparents getting their door kicked down; woken up by a herd of cops because of a prank," he said, "It hurts because I know the danger that they're putting themselves, their friends or people through."
It was a prank that cost him 90 days in prison, and years of regret.
