A prank burglary at Ashton Kutcher's Hollywood home last week cost the taxpayers of Los Angeles more than £6,000 (NZD$12,000) in wasted police manpower and other resources.
Police rushed to the Two and a Half Men star's Arrowhead Drive mansion last Wednesday after receiving a distress call from a woman who claimed she was the victim of a violent home invasion robbery, but the case is now being treated as an elaborate prank known as 'swatting'.
The hoax resulted in a massive number of police being deployed to the actor's home, involving dozens of heavily-armed officers from multiple divisions including a Los Angeles Police Department helicopter, according to US gossip website TMZ.
The alleged victim called 911 and said she had locked herself inside one of the bachelor pad's bathrooms after three gunshots were fired and that "people were either injured or dead".
Three men were detained when the Los Angeles Police Department arrived on the scene, but the suspects were cleared after it was discovered they were workers who were renovating the property under Ashton's authorisation.
