Crank caller sends POPD, deputies to PO man's home

An apparent crank call from a Federal Way man sent more than a dozen law enforcement officers swarming on a Port Orchard man’s house May 28, believing a stabbing victim was inside.

According to Port Orchard Police Chief Al Townsend, the 34-year-old resident of a home on the 1100 block of Sidney Avenue was very surprised to see seven police officers, four Kitsap County Sheriff’s deputies and at least four WestNET officers knocking on his door around 1:30 p.m.

“We got a call from a guy (who said he was the tenant of the home) and claimed ‘I’ve stabbed my brother and I’ve got an M-16 (rifle),’ ” Townsend said. “We shut down Sidney, which was closed for about an hour, and evacuated residences nearby.”

When officers approached the house, Townsend said he was able to make telephone contact with the tenant, who then willingly exited the home and spoke with officers. Neither a stabbing victim nor anyone other than the tenant was inside the home, Townsend said.

The tenant said he did not make the phone call, and he believed it was made by a man he knew in Federal Way. He explained that he and the man are at odds because they both dated the same woman in the past. The resident also said the Federal Way man had left him a message earlier that day telling him a S.W.A.T team was headed to his house.

Townsend said since the prank call was not made directly to 911 — which has caller ID — his office could not immediately identify whether it originated from the home.

No arrest had been made as of Thursday, and the case is currently under investigation, Townsend said.

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