Bogus 911 calls came from 8-year-old's cell phone

[MedicCook]

Bogus 911 calls came from 8-year-old's cell phone

Police investigations have uncovered the source of more than 135 bogus 911 emergency calls.

The Warren County Sheriff's Office said the calls -- everything from hang-ups to fire emergencies to car accidents -- were made from a cell phone belonging to an 8-year old girl.

The parents of the child had given her the phone to be used in emergency situations, but police say she was making the phony calls with a group of elementary school students at South Glens Falls.

The investigation is continuing as police try to identify all of the children involved.

http://www.capitalnews9.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=204640

[MedicCook]

Young prankster makes one 911 call too many
Police use tracking gear to put a stop to 8-year-old's hazardous cellphone game

SOUTH GLENS FALLS -- Police dispatchers are no dummies. They know, for instance, that when they take a call from a little girl, giggling, who says "a doughnut just hit a car," it's a joke. Not really funny unless you're 8, but humor is subjective.

Less funny is when the calls are chillingly specific: "There's been an accident in front of Sokol's Market on Aviation Road. People are hurt."

An 8-year-old girl was caught red-handed Thursday after weeks of making dozens of prank phone calls, including some that led officers on potentially dangerous wild goose chases.

The girl and three or four friends placed a maddening 135 phone calls, mostly from South Glens Falls, since the end of January. Because of the way cellphone towers route emergency calls, about 35 calls went to dispatchers in Lake George and the rest went to Wilton.

"For that car accident we sent out police, fire, ambulance apparatus. We thought it was a real accident. We're lucky we weren't delayed going to where someone was actually hurt," Warren County Sheriff Larry Cleveland said Thursday.

After that incident, dispatchers had the girl's phone number and didn't send out any other emergency vehicles when, for instance, she called one day to say a Queensbury business was on fire.

"It was really aggravating," Cleveland said.

To catch her, sheriff's deputies and dispatchers used equipment that traces cellphone calls using satellite technology. Dispatchers traced their source with GPS equipment, then translated those coordinates onto a map of the region.

Warren County authorities took charge of the investigation even though the calls were coming from northern Saratoga County because the Wilton emergency services building doesn't yet have the same ability to trace cellphone calls.

Cleveland said that sheriff's deputies in unmarked cars would drive around South Glens Falls every day, waiting for the girl to make a call. On a few days, Cleveland himself went on the hunt because he has an unmarked car and doesn't normally wear a police uniform.

Their break came Wednesday afternoon when the girl placed a call at 4 p.m. Dispatchers were able to locate the signal within 10 feet, and an unmarked sheriff's patrol happened to be in the same South Glens Falls neighborhood.

Deputies knocked on the family's door and found the girl still on the phone with a 911 operator. The girl ran and hid in the bathroom.

"She was one scared little dude," Cleveland said.

Her parents did not seem aware of what she was up to, Cleveland said. Her folks had given her an old cellphone that only dialed 911 to use in case of emergency.

Cleveland said authorities haven't yet decided whether to pursue the case in Family Court.

"Bringing an 8-year-old into a court situation, I don't really want to do that," he said. Authorities are still looking for the girl's accomplices.

"We'll find them," he said.

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=561694&category=SARATOGA&BCCode=LOCAL&newsdate=2/10/2007

[Donna]

seems to me she needs a little lesson in the boy who cried wolf.......

[sws4420]

My first question: Why does an eight year old have or need a cell phone?

[Donna]

My first question: Why does an eight year old have or need a cell phone?

the phone isn't in service, but it still dials out 911. There's games on it and maybe the parents figured she could play them and leave their good phones alone. I've done that with old phones, but my kid knew better than to screw around with 911.

[Cutesunshine]

First thing I thought was why does a kid have a cell. But then I recalled us getting the kiddos the wirefly's. Then I wondered why these parents havent taught her any sense of responsibility.
Hopefully they'll teach her a lesson and it would teach other children a lesson as well.