Police: Man claimed he was being robbed, held hostage
PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. - Lights flash and siren wailing in Peachtree City as police responded to a report of a robbery and a hostage situation. But incident took a bizarre turn after authorities arrived at the scene.
According to a Peachtree City Police report, 62-year old Fernando Artiles had told his alarm company someone had a gun to his head and was trying to rob him in his house.
The 911 communication included this information:
“Homeowner advising male/ gun to his head at location, started yelling, asked to speak w/ supervisor when told to hang on, line disconnected.”
But when officers arrived, and according to the report, established a perimeter and drew their weapons, a different story emerged that would lead to Mr. Artiles arrest.
According the police report, Mr. Artiles had spent a couple of hours on the phone trouble shooting his alarm system with the company and had become “irritated because the alarm was malfunctioning.” And at one point the report said he told the technician, “what if I had a gun to my head and he advised the individual hung up.”
The police report stated that Mr. Artiles told police he tried to clear up statement and thought he was talking to a technical support person and not a dispatcher.
The report stated an officer later listened to the alarm company’s recording of the conversation.
In the report the officer said: “I could clearly hear a female trying to verify the address, and I could hear Mr. Artiles advise the operator at he was being robbed and that there was someone with a gun to his face.
The officer also said on the recording he could hear Mr. Artiles mention that he would have to sue the alarm company and it sounded like he asked for a supervisor.
Police took Mr. Artiles into custody and charged him with making a false report.