Federal agents reportedly stormed the wrong Boston hotel room and interrogated an unassuming man late Tuesday.
The FBI‘s Boston Division was “assisting” the Department of Defense in a “training exercise at a hotel in Boston to simulate a situation their personnel might encounter in a deployed environment,” according to a statement from the bureau.
At approximately 10 p.m., the FBI said agents were “mistakenly sent to the wrong room and detained an individual, not the intended role player” in a fluke blamed on “inaccurate information.”
Sources told local CBS affiliate WBZ-TV that agents woke up the man — identified as a Delta Air Lines pilot — handcuffed him, interrogated him for close to an hour, and put him in the shower on the 15th floor of the Revere Hotel.
The FBI said nobody was injured in the mix-up.
“The Boston Police Department was called and responded to the scene to confirm that this was indeed a training exercise,” the FBI added. “Safety is always a priority of the FBI, and our law enforcement partners, and we take these incidents very seriously. The Boston Division is reviewing the incident with DOD for further action as deemed appropriate.”
Lt. Col. Mike Burns, who is with U.S. Army Special Operations Command, expressed the DoD’s “deepest apologies” to the man.
“The training was meant to enhance soldiers’ skills to operate in realistic and unfamiliar environments. The training team, unfortunately, entered the wrong room and detained an individual unaffiliated with the exercise,” he said in a statement reported by The Associated Press.
Delta Air Lines said in a statement that it was “looking into reports of an alleged incident in Boston that may involve Delta people” and had “nothing further to share at this time other than to reaffirm our commitment to ensuring the safety and well-being of our people.”