Talk about being on the wrong side of the law.
An Arizona bounty hunter was booked after he and his team mistakenly raided the home of the Phoenix police chief while looking for a fugitive, authorities said.
Brent Farley, owner of NorthStar Fugitive Recovery in Mesa, along with members of his team and those from Colorado-based Delta One Tactical Recovery surrounded Chief Joseph Yahner's home late Tuesday night, police said.
Police spokesman Trent Crump said they received a 911 call from Yahner's girlfriend around 10 p.m. MST (12 p.m. ET) that several bounty hunters were surrounding the home, shining flashlights inside. At least one bondsman was armed, banging on the door and yelling into the home.
It turned out to be a mistake of epic proportion when the slim, white, police chief answered the door in his underwear, awoken from his slumber, rather than an expected 310-pound, black, male suspect — wanted out of Oklahoma on drug charges.
A bondsman challenged the baton-wielding chief at the door but the situation quickly deescalated when the mistake was revealed.
"He was sleeping so he was concerned at first," Crump told NBC News. "But a 30-year law enforcement veteran in the 6th largest city in America can handle himself."
The recovery teams told police they were ambushing the residence based on a tip the Northstar Fugitive Recovery had received on Facebook, a page that has since been removed.
"This particular instance was them failing to confirm or vet the information that could have been found by googling the address," Crump said.
Farley is charged with criminal trespassing and disorderly conduct. Police are investigating where the initial false report originated.