Today, The Star Telegram reported that a 48 year old woman from Granbury, Texas called 911 because she'd run out of cigarettes. The emergency dispatcher wasted no time collecting the woman's name and address and then sending police to arrest her.
Hood County police described the woman as “very intoxicated.” She placed the call at 1:18 a.m.; as the call began, she was clearly unaware that she was already connected. The operator attempted to get the caller's attention as she addressed other people in the room.
“I'll just call 911 and tell them I need cigarettes,” the caller said to them.
Finally, after an awkward exchange of “hello?”, the caller said, “I need cigarettes” to the dispatcher. When asked, the woman revealed her actual address, but when asked her name she responded, “Gary Roberts.” The caller then claimed that she dialed the wrong number.
She later told deputies she thought it would be funny. She was arrested for abusing 911, a misdemeanor, and released on a $1,000 bond.
Sadly, this isn't the first such case. In Jan. 2012, a Florida woman called 911 six times. She berated operators and screamed profanities, never stating any reason for her calls. “She just wanted cigarettes. That’s all she wanted. She wanted cigarettes,” said her neighbor. She was also arrested for abusing 911.
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