Man arrested, charged after alleged ‘swatting’ incident
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
A Jefferson City man was arrested Wednesday after allegedly trying to “swat” another person.
Jeffrey Hayes, 34, is charged with first-degree harassment, second-degree stalking and two counts of second-degree harassment. He is being held in the Cole County Jail on a $10,000 bond.
“Swatting” is slang for making a false call to emergency services to bring a large law-enforcement presence to a residence.
The probable cause statement says several people received threatening communications – including email, faxes, text messages and mail – from Hayes during the period of Dec. 24-March 20. A city government official allegedly received a death threat from Hayes claiming he was going to shoot them.
The probable cause statement claims the targets of the alleged harassment included a person, their family and work supervisors. The statement says it stemmed from “a prior relationship with a female.”
Hayes allegedly made a phone call to Central Communications with a voice-altering device. He allegedly called CrimeStoppers and the Peace Officer Training and Standards Program posing at the victim and “confessing” to false crimes.
Hayes was identified after an investigation found that some of the communications came from an IP address registered to Hayes. He allegedly confessed to harassment to police and claimed he had “remorse” for sending death threats, according to the probable cause statement.
