Stevenson Ranch family becomes victim of swatting

STEVENSON RANCH, Calif. (FOX 11) - It started with pizza delivery pranks and turned into much more serious jokes a Stevenson Ranch family does not think are funny.

Thursday, SWAT officers surrounded the family's home in the 25800 block of Anderson Lane. Santa Clarita Valley deputies got a 911 call about a hostage situation involving an assault rifle, that again turned out to be a prank.

Alexander Fedorov was home along with his 11-year-old son in his underwear, his wife and her mother visiting from Russia who doesn't speak English.

"They had us get on our knees and put us in handcuffs and without even searching us, they put us in their vehicles," said Fedorov.

The family says for Russians to be forced to kneel is extremely offensive.

"My mom cried and she doesn't know what to do," said Fedorov's wife, Anna Marcos. "It's very scary about our family because she has to go back to Russia and she doesn't know what will happen tomorrow."

Fedorov says the cuffs were so tight, his hands turned purple. Bruises and cuts still on their forearms, they say are from Thursday's incident.

It all started a year ago, when their son, Christian was playing video games online and says a 15-year-old boy from Pennsylvania hacked into his account, got his home address and started delivering 10 unpaid pizzas a day.

But then the jokes got much worse. They believe the Pennsylvania teenager is also responsible for calling a bomb threat to their house. They've asked him to stop online and for the police to help.

"Bear in mind that the public safety of our community is our first priority and so when we did go into that situation last Thursday night, our concern was the safety of all involved because we did not automatically know it was a prank or a hoax call,' said Santa Clarita Sheriff's Spokeswoman Shirley Miller.

Sheriff's supervisors are reviewing the situation. It's an open investigation but detectives are likely getting local police in Pennsylvania involved. Reporting a false emergency is a felony.