Federal agents break into wrong hotel room and interrogate man during training exercise

Federal agents conducting a training exercise at a Boston hotel broke into the wrong room and detained an innocent bystander, the FBI confirmed Wednesday.

The FBI said its Boston division was “assisting” the Department of Defense in conducting a training exercise around 10 p.m. Tuesday.

“Based on inaccurate information, they were mistakenly sent to the wrong room and detained an individual, not the intended role player,” the FBI said in a statement. “Thankfully nobody was injured.”

According to CBS Boston, the man who was erroneously detained was a Delta Air Lines pilot. Agents handcuffed him, interrogated him and put him in the room’s shower, sources told CBS Boston’s I-Team. CBS Boston reported the man was handcuffed for more than 45 minutes before the agents realized their mistake.

The FBI said that the Boston Police Department was called in to confirm that a training exercise was taking place. 

“Safety is always a priority of the FBI, and our law enforcement partners, and we take these incidents very seriously,” the FBI said. “The Boston Division is reviewing the incident with DOD for further action as deemed appropriate.”