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Police Swarm Burbank Man Locked Out Of Own Apartment, Handcuff Him At Gunpoint

BURBANK (CBSLA) – A Burbank man suffered a terrifying ordeal Friday afternoon when he found himself surrounded by officers with guns drawn outside his own apartment, the result of a misunderstanding.

Police Swarm Burbank Man Locked Out Of Own Apartment
Cell phone video shows police officers in Burbank, Calif., responding to a burglary call on May 4, 2018. The incident turned out to be a misunderstanding, with a man who was locked out of his own apartment. (Credit: Cailley Formichella/YouTube)‏

Ben Tang told CBS2 Saturday he called a locksmith after getting locked out of his apartment in the 600 block of North Maple Street at around 4 p.m.

"They said, 'Put your hands up, put your hands up.'" says Tang, "And all of a sudden I see, I don't know, like 10-15 cops, surrounding my whole house."

As Tang and the locksmith were working to get into his unit, several Burbank police cruisers arrived on scene and multiple officers approached the two men with guns drawn.

The incident, which was caught on cellphone video by a bystander, shows Tang and the locksmith with their hands up while at least six officers with handguns and rifles surround them.

Burbank police confirmed to CBS2 that they had responded after receiving a 911 call from a neighbor about a possible burglary in progress.

Tang says he felt like a criminal in his own neighborhood.

"I walked out and I looked to my left and I saw a high-powered rifle pointing at me. And I'm like 'What is going on?'" Tang said.

"They told me to walk back slowly and that's when I got handcuffed. I was trying to explain my situation but they wouldn't let me talk," Tang said.

And while Tang admits to being very embarrassed about what happens, he said he's not angry at the person who called the police.

"I appreciate my neighbors for watching out," he says, "but yeah, it could have been handled a different way, to be honest."

"We would like to thank a concerned citizen who reported a burglary in-progress," Burbank police wrote on Twitter Friday night. "After seeing what they believed to be two men entering a home utilizing a tool, they called the police. Officers responded following protocol and determined the men were the homeowner and locksmith."

The two men were handcuffed. However, when the mix-up was resolved, they were immediately released without charges.

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