Washington state local police said an executive for video game maker Bungie was the victim Thursday of a hoax by a caller who claimed he had an assault rifle and was holding the family hostage.

"He wanted $20,000 to release the family," Nathan Elledge, chief of the Sammamish Police Department, told local media.

The 4am call appeared as if it came from within the executive's suburban residence, police said. They dispatched a helicopter overhead. Police surrounded the residence of the executive of the Bellevue-based game maker whose identity was not released. A SWAT team was on the ready, police said.

About an hour into the incident, police said the executive finally came out of the suburban house in his bathrobe—the victim of a swatting hoax.

"He seemed very confused at what was going on," King County Sheriff's Office Deputy Jason Houck told Komonews.com. Houck suspected that the prankster might have been a "contractor for his work or someone at his work who didn't have a great experience with him."

Police did not immediately respond to Ars for comment. And nobody answered the phone at Bungie, the maker of the Halo series and, most recently, Destiny. The company told Komonews that the victim was "okay" and declined further comment. 

 

Law enforcement made 47 sneak-and-peek searches nationwide from September 2001 to April 2003. The 2010 report reveals 3,970 total requests were processed. Within three years that number jumped to 11,129. That’s an increase of over 7,000 requests. Exactly what privacy advocates argued in 2001 is happening: sneak and peak warrants are not just being used in exceptional circumstances—which was their original intent—but as an everyday investigative tool.

But how often is the sneak-and-peek power used in actual terrorism cases?

Out of the 3,970 total requests from October 1, 2009 to September 30, 2010, 3,034 were for narcotics cases and only 37 for terrorism cases (about .9%). Since then, the numbers get worse. The 2011 report reveals a total of 6,775 requests. 5,093 were used for drugs, while only 31 (or .5%) were used for terrorism cases. The 2012 report follows a similar pattern: Only .6%, or 58 requests, dealt with terrorism cases. The 2013 report confirms the incredibly low numbers. Out of 11,129 reports only 51, or .5%, of requests were used for terrorism. The majority of requests were overwhelmingly for narcotics cases, which tapped out at 9,401 requests.