911 call

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Big Police Problem: 'Butt Dials' to 911

One city says 20% of emergency calls are mistakes

(Newser) - "Butt dials" are becoming a police menace if Evanston, Illinois, is typical. About 20% of the city's 911 calls—around 500 a month—fall under the category of "unintentional" or "abandoned," and police blame most of them on people sitting on their phones or something...

Casey Anthony Trial: Court Plays 911 Tape in Caylee's Death
 Court Plays 
 Casey's Calm
 911 Tape 
Casey Anthony Trial
May 31, 2011 1:13 PM CDT

Court Plays Casey's Calm 911 Tape

Cindy Anthony cleaned 'death' smell off Caylee's doll: testimony

(Newser) - Casey Anthony’s mother broke down today on the witness stand while listening to a tape of a 911 call her daughter made on July 15, 2008. On the tape, Casey calmly reports that her daughter Caylee has been missing for 31 days, ABC News reports. “I know who...

Man Arrested After Pocket Dialing 911

Maine man with two active warrants arrested after many 'pocket dials'

(Newser) - Another day, another unfortunate pocket-dialing incident : A Maine man wanted for failing to pay fines accidentally helped officers find him when he repeatedly "pocket dialed" 911 while doing yard work, according to police. James Green, 29, was using a backpack leaf blower this weekend when he kept calling 911...

Man Pocket Dials 911—While Chatting About Drug Deal

Georgia man accidentally incriminates himself after an unfortunate call

(Newser) - It has happened to the best of us ... but probably not like this. A Georgia man is in hot water after he "pocket-dialed" 911 and was overheard talking about a drug deal. The 911 dispatcher said no one was actually on the call made around 1:30am, but a...

Senior Citizen Calls 911, Asks EMTs for a Favor

Raymond Roberge was hoping they'd go on a beer run for him

(Newser) - Things you should not call 911 about: bad manicures , bad weed , lack of beer. And yet, a 65-year-old Connecticut man did just that. Police say Raymond Roberge called 911 three times on Sunday. When EMTs and firefighters came to his home, he asked them to ... go on a beer run...

Burglars Pocket-Dial 911, Get Busted

Which is really inconvenient when you've got stolen property in the car

(Newser) - Don’t you just hate when you accidentally pocket-dial someone? Well, imagine that happened while you were planning burglaries—and the number you dialed happened to be 911. That’s what happened to three Syracuse men last week. An operator listened as the men discussed a spree of burglaries they...

Cops: Driver Makes Fake 911 Call to Avoid Ticket

Oddly, the plan backfired

(Newser) - For 90 glorious minutes, it was a brilliant scheme. And then it became another entry in the annals of dumb criminals. Police in Naples, Florida, say a driver pulled over for speeding called 911 to report shots fired—with a wounded person to boot—as the deputy ran his information...

LA Man Busted for Making 18K Crank 911 Calls

Suspect accused of harassing dispatchers with 100 calls daily

(Newser) - Police in California say they've arrested a man who appears to have devoted most of his waking hours for six months to making crank calls to 911. Maurice Cruz, 41, is accused of making 18,000 prank calls over the period—around 100 calls a day. He was arrested by...

World's Worst Idea to Force a Marriage Proposal

Hint: It should not involve calling 911

(Newser) - An emergency domestic abuse call turned out to be a misguided attempt to force a marriage proposal, WBBM reports. Chicago resident Ana Perez, 40, called 911 and told the dispatcher she was being attacked by her boyfriend. When police arrived, however, Perez admitted she wanted to scare him into proposing...

911 May Allow Emergency Texts

FCC chair proposes upgrading antiquated call centers

(Newser) - You may soon be able to text an emergency message to 911—and send a photo to boot. The FCC is exploring ways to bring 911 into the "digital age," says chair Julius Genachowski, noting that 70% of 911 calls come from mobile phones. No timetable yet, but...

Homeless Hot Tub Intruder Calls 911 for Cocoa, Hug

Request denied, man arrested

(Newser) - After 10 hours spent soaking in a hot tub, all Mark Eskelsen wanted was "a hug and a warm cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows in it," he told 911 operators. Instead, he was arrested and charged with trespass and misuse of the 911 system after police found...

Daughter Calls 911 From Car as Mom 'Drives Drunk'

Cops pull mother over as she 'swerves' into lanes

(Newser) - A scared 12-year-old girl frantically called 911 on her cell phone from inside a car as her drunk mom careened down a Long Island highway, police said. Jamie Hicks, 48, was swerving into other traffic lanes with her two daughters in her car when she was pulled over by state...

Mom Strangles Autistic Kids
 Mom Strangles Autistic Kids 
Jul 23, 2010 1:21 AM CDT

Mom Strangles Autistic Kids

I want 'normal' children, she tells dispatcher

(Newser) - A Texas mom called a 911 operator to confess that she killed her two young autistic children because she wanted "normal" kids. "I don't want my kids to be like that," said Saiqa Akhter, 30, who has been charged with capital murder in the killing of her...

Drunk Woman to 911 Operator: Find Me a Husband

Audrey Scott jailed after trying to dial-a-mate...5 times

(Newser) - She was looking to shack up for life, but instead, she found herself in the big house for 3 days. An Ohio woman was arrested and sent to jail after calling 911 looking for a husband—five times. The dumbfounded dispatcher tried to clarify her request by asking Audrey Scott,...

Snowbound Man Dies After 10 Calls to 911

Snowstorm kepts ambulances from dying man in Pittsburgh

(Newser) - The heavy snows that pummeled the East Coast last week claimed one victim in Pittsburgh whose death was surely preventable: a 50-year-old man who called 911 nine times over two days to complain of severe stomach pain. Every time an ambulance was dispatched, it got stuck in snow. Poor communication...

Alec Baldwin Hospitalized After Fight With Daughter

Actor is fine after threatening to take pills

(Newser) - Alec Baldwin was rushed to the hospital just after midnight after 14-year-old daughter Ireland—the same one he famously called a "rude, thoughtless little pig" in 2008—called 911 saying her father allegedly threatened to take pills following an argument and was "unresponsive." Baldwin was released shortly...

Mom Calls Cops on Grand Theft Auto-Addled Teen

Boston police talk boy into shutting off PlayStation

(Newser) - A Boston teen's excessive video game playing caused his mom to call 911 this weekend. Angela Mejia awoke at 2:30am to find her son still playing Grand Theft Auto IV, so she unplugged his PlayStation. "I want to help my son, but I can’t find a way,...

Sheriff Sorry for Missing Jaycee Case

911 caller warned of children living in Garrido's backyard

(Newser) - The Sheriff of Contra Costa County apologized to Jaycee Lee Dugard’s family today for not investigating the case earlier, the Los Angeles Times reports. Sheriff Warren Rupf said a 911 caller warned years ago that children were living in tents in Phillip Garrido's backyard. But a deputy responding to...

Iowa 911 Now Accepts Texts
 Iowa 911 Now Accepts Texts 
Aug 5, 2009 2:18 PM CDT

Iowa 911 Now Accepts Texts

(Newser) - An emergency call center in the basement of the county jail in Waterloo, Iowa, today became the first in the country to accept text messages sent to 911. "I think there's a need to get out front and get this technology available," the county's police chief says, adding...

Gates Sends Flowers to 911 Caller
Gates Sends Flowers
to 911 Caller
Aug 1, 2009 5:05 AM CDT

Gates Sends Flowers to 911 Caller

Bouquet, note an 'expression of gratitude' to neighbor

(Newser) - The Cambridge woman whose 911 call sparked a national uproar over racial profiling received flowers and a note from her neighbor, Henry Louis Gates, yesterday, the Boston Herald reports. It was "an expression of gratitude," her lawyer says. Lucia Whalen, who never mentioned race when she called...

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