A 19-year-old TikTok prankster has been arrested after a fake emergency call resulted in the police department, fire service, and even the Coast Guard wasting their time.
On January 13, a Blackpool teen allegedly tried to boost his TikTok engagement at around 2:30 AM by making a hoax emergency call.
The caller reportedly warned that someone had entered the sea near the RNLI lifeboat station, resulting in a 90-minute long search.
Lancashire Police, the fire department, ambulances, HM Coast Guard, helicopters, and lifeboat volunteers all sprang into action looking for someone who never even existed.
TikToker accused of wasting emergency responders’ time with fake emergency
After nobody was discovered in the water, police announced that 19-year-old Kian King had been arrested and charged him with causing wasteful employment of police time.
“We have charged a man in connection with a hoax call which led to an emergency response in Blackpool, involving police, HM Coastguard, the fire service and ambulance service,” a police spokesman said.
“After around 90 minutes of searching, it transpired this was a hoax call thought to have been linked to an attempt to boost engagement on a social media account.”
HM Coast Guard Fleetwood also issued a statement, alleging that during the search, they had to deal with interference from a laser pen that was directed at its equipment.
“Laser pens cause a significant risk to our air crew and seriously hamper their efforts to locate people in difficulty and save lives. It is incredibly irresponsible to target aircraft with such devices,” they warned. “We encourage people to call us for help if they have concerns or suspect an emergency on the coast.”
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