WATCH ABOVE: Innocent man has his home raided after “swatting” prank in Richmond Hill
Vincent Yan was sleeping inside his Richmond Hill home Sunday, when a few minutes before 6 a.m., the York police SWAT team broke in his door, breaking his front window in the process.
Yan was the victim of swatting – and now he’s left with a damaged door and broken window.
But he won’t have to pay out of his own pocket. Both police and insurance providers cover the costs of damages incurred during forced entries.
A spokesperson for State Farm insurance said typical homeowners insurance would cover the costs of repairing damages caused by police, fire, or other civil authorities breaking into your home during an investigation.
READ MORE: The rich Canadian history of ‘swatting’
The home insurance will also cover the costs regardless of whether the perpetrator was arrested.
Yan, his wife, and their two young kids, were sleeping when the police arrived at his home four minutes after the prank call was placed.
“They said they received a phone call that there was gun fire and some killing in my house. And they said it was from my phone number,” Yan said. “It was like bang, bang, bang, neighbours said it was like gunfire when they pounded on the door.”
York Police are still investigating how the fake phone call was placed. Yan said police told him the caller had used his phone number but how that happened is still under investigation.
If police do catch the perpetrator and he’s convicted, he could be on the hook for costs as well.
“An insurance company could certainly seek restitution through the courts both civilly and criminally to recoup the costs they paid to repair the damage to their customer’s home,” John Bordignon, a spokesperson for State Farm Insurance said in an email.
There’s only been a few instances of swatting in Canada, including instances in Edmonton, Laval, Vancouver, and Ottawa.
Ottawa police said they do have a fund to cover the costs of damages associated with forced entries, but in an instance of swatting home insurance and liability would have to be figured out before anything was paid.
York Police spokesperson Constable Andy Pattenden said York police also have a fund to deal with damages caused by their emergency task force. But those funds are only doled out when the homeowner is found to have done nothing wrong.
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