Cops today said that the big bad wolf responsible for some of the celebrity mayhem known as “swatting” has been arrested.

This would-be hardened criminal wreaked havoc on the LAPD when officers rushed to the homes of Justin Bieber, Ashton Kutcher and possibly others based on false reports of home invaders with guns, police say.

Turns out the suspect is …

… a juvenile. Figures. Swatting is the practice, of course, of calling out the SWAT team, or something like that, on a celebrity as a prank.

Police wouldn't name the person, of course, because they usually don't name suspects who are under the age of 18.

They would say this:

Getting Kutch'd should be a verb.

Getting Kutch'd should be a verb.

Hollywood Detectives served numerous search warrants, including several outside of Los Angeles County. On December 10, 2012, Hollywood Detectives arrested a juvenile from the Southern California region for the Ashton Kutcher swatting incident, as well as a similar swatting incident that took place at the home of Justin Bieber. Other swatting incidents involving this individual have been identified.

The LAPD also says the FBI and Long Beach police helped out (and that might indicate where the kid is from).

The Ashton Kutcher call involved a report of “guns and explosives” at his Arrowhead Drive home on Oct. 3, police said. False!

It was Bieber's turn Oct. 10 (interestingly, that one was on the L.A. County Sheriff's Department's turf, in Calabasas).

Simon Cowell was hit with a swatting the next month in the city of Beverly Hills. Lt. Lincoln Hoshino of BHPD couldn't confirm or deny for the Weekly if this suspect was being tied by 90210 cops to that one. He would only say:

Our detectives are in communication with the Los Angeles Police Department. I don't know if the cases are related or not, but it's an ongoing investigation.

Swatting is bad for public safety, cops say, tying up serious law enforcement resources for nothing. The LAPD:

The swatting practice is extremely dangerous and places first responders and citizens in harm's way.

The LAPD says it has sent its case against the juvenile to the District Attorney's office for its consideration.

See also:

*SWATting, a Deadly Political Game.

[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

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