False 911 report ends with a man in handcuffs; Sheriff’s Office

MONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. (KION-TV) -- The Monterey County Sheriff's Office announced Friday that they arrested a man who falsely reported witnessing an officer getting shot.

They said the false report caused a large law enforcement response around 1:30 p.m. at the Prunetree Shopping Center on the 17500 block of Vierra Canyon Road.

According to deputies, the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office, California Highway Patrol and California State Parks all responded to the incident after an unidentified caller reported that he saw an officer get shot after seeing him fighting with someone.

They said that after an extensive area search, they found no victims and confirmed that all deputies and officers were safely accounted for.

Deputies say that around that same time, they received a peace disturbance call at a residence on the 1700 block of Highway 156 where they were able to confirm that a person left on foot following a family quarrel.

They said that they were also able to connect the phone number of the peace disturbance with the original false 911 call, and around 2:20 p.m. deputies detained 25-year-old Cesar Antonio Zuniga Espinoza of Prunedale at a gas station.

According to deputies, Espinoza was in possession of the phone that the false emergency had been called in from. They said that they also found Espinoza has multiple outstanding misdemeanor warrants with a total bail of $10,000.

He will be booked into the Monterey County Jail for reporting a false emergency, making a false police report and his outstanding warrants.