What? No Arrests? Police Call False Kidnapping Prank Risky Behavior

Yakima Police call it "risky behavior" after they investigated what was reported as a kidnapping but turned out to be a prank on Monday morning. However no arrests were made.

THE INITIAL CALL CAME ON MONDAY MORNING AND THE RESPONSE WAS BIG

According to a post on the Yakima Police Department Facebook page police received a report of a possible kidnapping at about 10:00 am Monday in the area of the Target store in Yakima at 12 North Fair Avenue. As you can imagine numerous Yakima Police Officers and Detectives responded to help while Troopers from the Washington State Patrol and Yakima County Sheriff's Office also diverted resources to attempt to locate a suspect vehicle.

POLICE WERE ABLE TO CONTACT THOSE INVOLVED

An investigation quickly found that the report of a kidnapping was not true and was described as a prank. The post says those associated with the prank were contacted by law enforcement after taking an exit from I-82 and stopping to speak with authorities.

WHILE THE INCIDENT CAUSED AUTHORITIES TO RESPOND NO ARRESTS WERE MADE

Police say it was a good reminder "that circumstances like this can create panic and alarm in the community, also endanger lives while police rapidly deploy to what was initially believed to be a kidnap in progress.:
Police say no criminal charges were sought in the incident, the subjects involved were identified and the incident verified to be a prank. No arrests were made.

WILL SWATTING CALLS BE NEXT?

You may have heard of another prank that police all around the country and facing. It's called Swatting.
Police say swatting is a form of criminal harassment that involves deceiving an emergency service into sending a police or emergency service response team to another person's address. So far Yakima Police say while they were 'pranked' on Monday they haven't yet had to deal with a swatting call.