By Madeleine List
The Charlotte Observer
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A woman called police more than 11,000 times since the start of 2022, but not to ask for help, according to Florida court records.
The 51-year-old woman called 911 repeatedly to harass, belittle and “yell obscenities” at officers, according to a complaint/arrest affidavit filed in Pinellas County.
On May 12, authorities sent her a letter telling her that if she continued to misuse the 911 system, she would be charged, according to the affidavit.
Despite receiving the warning letter, the woman continued to call the St. Petersburg Police Department’s communications center more than 1,000 times between May 15 and the end of June.
Her calls, which were placed from two telephone numbers registered in her name, made up 10% of the total call volume to the police department’s non-emergency line, according to the document.
On May 30 alone she made 406 calls to the police department, the affidavit says.
St. Petersburg is about 24 miles southwest of Tampa.
Many of her calls were “vulgar, threatening or obscene,” and she often made statements like, “Hang up and I will call back,” according to the affidavit.“Many calls contain extreme expletives, sexual innuendo, and belittling remarks to the communications staff.”
On June 30, officers went to her home at 1:06 p.m., and she called 911 one minute later.
She yelled at the officers outside her house and gave them the middle finger through her window while on the phone with dispatchers. The call lasted until just before 1:30 p.m., when officers arrested her and charged her with misuse of the wireless 911 system and harassing telephone calls .
While out on bond for those charges, the woman continued to call police “solely to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass,” according to a second arrest affidavit.
During a 24-hour period beginning at 4:30 p.m. on July 2, she called the department’s emergency communications line 512 times and the Pinellas County Sheriff’s communications center twice, the document says.
She would often demand that officers come arrest her, but then close herself inside her home and refuse to come to the door when they arrived.
Officers arrested her for a second time after 10:15 p.m. on Aug. 8 and charged her with making harassing phone calls.
“At the time this affidavit was written(,) the defendant called back and told officers to come arrest her,” the affidavit says. “... she loves playing this game.”
She was booked into the Pinellas County jail and released the next day on her own recognizance, according to jail records.
Florida law states that the 911 system must be used “solely for emergency communications by the public.” Misusing the emergency system is a first-degree misdemeanor that can carry a penalty of up to one year in prison and a fine of $1,000.
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