Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Drunk driver told 911 she shouldn't be driving

A suspected drunken driver chatted with an emergency dispatcher in East Lansing, Michigan for about 20 minutes before she was pulled over and arrested.

Early in the call, the dispatcher asked, “Are you intoxicated?” The woman replied, “Absolutely” and she told the dispatcher that she “shouldn’t be driving.” The dispatcher pleaded with the woman to pull over and  he helped officers to find the driver.

The woman was issued a citation for operating while intoxicated and faces up to 90 days in jail. Her name hasn’t been released. (info from The Daily Caller.)

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Man arrested for prank 911 calls, for second time

Brian K. Everton was jailed in Racine County, Wisconsin for obstructing an officer and non-emergency use of 911. He allegedly made more than 30 prank calls to 911.

A sheriff's spokesman said that his constant calls put a drain on the 911 call center because dispatchers must follow up on any disconnected call to make sure that no one needs help.

Everton was also charged last year for pranking 911. (info from http://www.journaltimes.com/)

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

911 dispatcher fired for fighting

Sheletha Foster, a 911 dispatcher in Thomasville, Georgia, was fired for fighting on the job with co-worker Patrick Slaughter.

Foster asked Slaughter to cover her radio while she went on break. She says he ignored her, so she went to his desk. He hit her on the arm. She grabbed his headset. They had to be separated by a co-worker. Foster was fired. Slaughter was not disciplined. (info from WALB TV.)

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

High school students busted for 911 prank calls

Police in Sacramento, California cited two high school students Monday after they made hoax calls to 911 saying that a teacher was going to be shot.

The students made several threats, using the same cellphone, between classes. Police suspected the calls to be a hoax, but took the threats seriously.

Officers responded to the campus and quickly traced the calls back to the students. In the meantime, campus officials closed off all but one entry point to the school, asked teachers to close their doors and brought physical education classes inside. Officers cited the students for reporting a false emergency and confiscated the  phone. (Info from the Sacramento Bee.)

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Man busted for hundreds of dirty-talking 911 calls

Timothy Lawrence of Avon Park, Florida was arrested and jailed  for making 218 false calls to 911 on three days last month.
 
On Feb. 13, between 2 and 10:52 a.m., Lawrence is said to have made 151 calls to the 911 center at the Highlands County Sheriff's Office. He would talk only to female dispatchers and made sexually explicit remarks to them. When the female dispatchers asked if the caller needed emergency assistance, he said, "no."

This same pattern continued on Feb. 15, when Lawrence reportedly made 35 911 calls between 1:53 and 8:07 a.m. Thirty-three more calls came between 10:43 a.m. and 1:34 p.m. on Feb. 20. (info from Tampa Bay Online)