Escambia Hostage Hoax Prompts SWAT Response; Two Arrested

March 27, 2011

A bogus report prompted a SWAT standoff Sunday in Escambia County. Deputies believed that a Pensacola woman who wished to turn herself in on a warrant was being held against her will by her boyfriend.

The Escambia County Sheriff’s Department received a call around 7:15 a.m. from a woman who identified herself as 32-year-old Lateefah Moore. The caller told Sheriff’s dispatchers that she had a warrant for her arrest and wanted to turn herself in. When dispatchers confirmed the warrant was valid they dispatched deputies to the address she provided, 1500 East Johnson St.

When deputies arrived at the address they attempted to serve the warrant but could not get anyone to answer the door. One of the responding deputies called the telephone number recorded by dispatch and a female answered. The deputy, thinking he was talking to the warrant suspect, asked her to come to the door. The female then began to cry and told the deputy that her boyfriend was holding her against her will.

“At the time of this phone call, we believed that we had a man holding his girlfriend and two children hostage,” said Sheriff’s spokesperson Deputy Chris Welborn. “The patrol supervisor made the decision to call out our hostage negotiations and SWAT teams.”

The Sheriff’s special weapons and tactics team took up positions around the residence while hostage negotiators tried to contact the female or her boyfriend.

“Our hostage negotiators were finally able to make contact with Moore, but she denied being held against her will and was a bit frightened by all the activity,” said Welborn. “Our negotiators talked her into coming out and we were able to get to the bottom of this.”

Upon further investigation, it was determined that Moore’s boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend, identified as 27-year-old Kaneatha Sheri Harris of Pensacola, had made the phone call to the Sheriff’s office and identified herself as Moore.

Patrol deputies tracked down Harris at her residence in the Sunrise apartment complex at 4350 Fairfield Dr. She was taken into custody and charged with making a false report and two counts of obstructing justice.

Moore was also arrested on a violation of probation warrant.

Comments

26 Responses to “Escambia Hostage Hoax Prompts SWAT Response; Two Arrested”

  1. Michelle Hoomes on March 31st, 2011 7:01 pm

    It is what it is. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHAHAHHAAA

  2. flstci on March 29th, 2011 7:01 am

    What a pair of lovely ladies. He is one lucky man.

  3. Robocop on March 29th, 2011 5:22 am

    Looks like she is up “Wind Creek” without a paddle this time…bet she is fixin to be in THE CLUB now…theres more where they came from you can bet on that and win everytime

  4. life's_challenging on March 28th, 2011 8:08 pm

    wow….really? LOL

  5. Yellarhammer on March 28th, 2011 4:24 pm

    I think what the real problem here is that they ran out of food stamps and needed a free meal.

  6. JohnJohn on March 28th, 2011 3:33 pm

    What you talkiin ’bout Willis?

  7. concerned citizen on March 28th, 2011 2:50 pm

    Two more morons costing the tax payers money.. Probably at least 20 officers (including the SWAT team) were led on this wild goose chase.. I’ll bet these two will not even be able to pay their fines..

  8. atmore on March 28th, 2011 1:54 pm

    I’m at a loss for words…really…I know there have been a lot of crazy things going on but, really!? Just because your ex want’s to be with someone else is no reason to be all childish. I hope all of these people get what they deserve. And hopefully they will get out of jail and the ex will get over the fact that her ex fo sho aint comin back to her now! Drama Drama!

  9. JIM W on March 28th, 2011 1:14 pm

    Man, Moore looks completely stoned in her picture. What a bunch of loosers.

  10. Bob Solarski on March 28th, 2011 10:45 am

    I didn’t know Gary Coleman was still around.

  11. bjay on March 28th, 2011 10:37 am

    “Wasting tax payers money”? Although its funny Ms. Harris would do this,She still got a criminal off the street. The lady had a warrant for her arrest. I dont care how it happened as long as it did happen. Thank you Ms. Harris for doing the job of the S.O.!

  12. Resident on March 28th, 2011 10:15 am

    I’m think Jerry Springer would like this.

  13. gerry on March 28th, 2011 9:35 am

    I think Wind Creek should Ms. Harris picture for a poster!
    She already has the T-skirt.
    Head line should read: REAL WINNER!!

  14. Voice of reason on March 28th, 2011 9:08 am

    I wonder if they ended up in the same cell together?

  15. dad on March 28th, 2011 6:17 am

    Ms. Harris just wanting to cause trouble for the new girlfriend instead of getting on with her life. Living well is the best revenge.

  16. elmerfudd on March 28th, 2011 1:39 am

    Sounds like a good show for Jerry Springer

  17. mary on March 27th, 2011 8:04 pm

    All I can think is “What LOSERS”!!! Including the boyfriend or ex boyfriend…..This is a case of pure stupidity!!! You can fix stupid!

  18. pm on March 27th, 2011 7:23 pm

    What a waste of resourses. Wonder how much this stupid woman cost the tax-payers — It would be nice to think the judge would throw the book at her but my bet is that because of the kid or kids she will get more probation and violate that too. We should be crying about the money she cost us – not her crying because she got caught.

  19. laughing out loud on March 27th, 2011 5:31 pm

    WOW!!!! How smart… NOT…….. out of all the dumb things I’ve heard of this takes the cake..

  20. T on March 27th, 2011 5:14 pm

    Very smart :(

  21. OldMarine on March 27th, 2011 5:06 pm

    So , some lucky guy was dating both of these hot chicks?

  22. fyi on March 27th, 2011 4:37 pm

    wow! how pathetic is that! All bc her ex-boyfriend had a new girlfriend. The levels of jealousy these days! At least karma wasnt too far behind and she got what she deserved!

  23. pitiful on March 27th, 2011 4:14 pm

    Ms Harris doen’t look to be a kid and not 27 years old. What some people will do for revenge.

  24. Dave on March 27th, 2011 4:01 pm

    WOW! Harris looks like a child.

  25. Name (required) on March 27th, 2011 3:56 pm

    Oh what a tangled web we weave….

    Glad the ECSO was on the ball, they still got their (wo)man, even if it was a hoax!

  26. molino jim on March 27th, 2011 3:39 pm

    good work s.o. two for the price of one.