Police stopped a Southern California break-in. It turned out to be a film shoot

The calls came pouring in about 9:30 p.m. Sunday.

Neighbors in a Fullerton neighborhood saw shadowy figures breaking into an apartment late Sunday. The men were wearing ski masks and carrying what looked like guns.

Only the neighbors didn’t know cameras were rolling.

Fullerton police rushed to the scene Sunday night to find the would-be home invasion on the 200 block of East Orangefair Mall was in fact a film shoot, Southern California’s City News Service reported Monday.

Officers from the Orange County city of about 140,000 found two men clad in ski masks and holding what were later found to be prop guns. A number of people were detained while police sorted out the scene, Fullerton police Sgt. Ryan O’Neil told City News Service.

Police soon learned that no crimes had been committed. Because the apartment was a private residence, police had not been notified of the filming, O’Neil said.

This story was originally published September 28, 2020 at 11:03 AM.

Darrell Smith

The Sacramento Bee

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Darrell Smith is a local reporter for The Sacramento Bee. He joined The Bee in 2006 and previously worked at newspapers in Palm Springs, Colorado Springs and Marysville. Smith was born and raised at Beale Air Force Base and lives in Elk Grove.