Posted on 05/25/2005 7:29:08 AM PDT by Constitutionalist Conservative
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — An 86-year-old woman was jailed after police said she called 911 dispatchers 20 times in a little more than a half-hour — all to complain that a pizza parlor wouldn't deliver.
Dorothy Densmore was charged with misusing the 911 system, a jail spokeswoman said.
She told dispatchers Sunday that a local pizza shop refused to deliver a pie to her south Charlotte apartment, said Officer Mandy Giannini. She also complained that someone at the shop called her a "crazy old coot," Giannini said.
Densmore wanted them arrested. Instead, police came to arrest her, and she resisted, Giannini said.
It's unusual for someone to face charges for nonemergency calls, Giannini said. But on Sunday, Densmore kept calling 911, even after she was told to stop, Giannini said.
When an officer arrived at her apartment, the 5-foot-tall, 98-pound woman attacked him, Giannini said. Densmore scratched him, kicked and bit his hand, she said.
Densmore also is charged with resisting a public officer and two counts of misusing the 911 system, jail records show.
She may have been holding them in her hand and hit him and bit him at the same time.
Or, $5 per call, waived if it is an actual emergency.
Just dreaming, of course, since the fee would be uncollectable from public phones. There's no way they could get away with demanding payment up front before they will listen to the reason for your call. There's also little chance they could talk someone into depositing coins in the phone after it is determined that the call was frivolous. Sigh.
Well let's see...she was in Laurel Ridge Treatment Center for about 10 days until my insurance capped out and they declared she was miraculously cured even before she got stabilized on her meds, that cost me $26,000. She was committed to the San Antonio State Hospital several times, and she was placed by the State in several lock-down institutions for troubled teens. She assaulted counselors and broke out of the facilities on a regular basis. She poured Kool-Aid in a security keypad once that caused it to malfunction. She climbed into the attic and broke through the roof of one facility and escaped. Each time, they eventually returned her home. The incident I related was the last straw...the State had demanded that I take her back home several days after that, I told them no, so they charged me with child abandonment. Any other bright suggestions for parents of violent children?
For the record, she "aged out" of the "system" at 18 and they literally kicked her out on the streets. She has spent the last year and a half in prison for burglarizing my home and is now in a drug treatment facilty for methamphetamine addiction.
Yes, I heard about that call...except it was in TX, not CA. The girl had kicked a hole in the door and was assaulting her sister. The woman feared for her other daughter's life. And FYI, the dispatcher did not even bother to find out what happened before the snide remark was made:
CALLER: The 12-year-old is completely out of control, and I can't-- I physically... She's as big as I am, I can't control her.
DISPATCHER: Okay, did you want us to come over and shoot her?
Partial Transcript of the call
That could have easily been my situation. So much for your "BS" that this woman was wrong for calling 911. Assault is assault and should not be tolerated...neither should smart-mouth dispatchers. Being thrown in juvenile detention for a few days might have done that girl some good.
I am speechless about what you had to go through with your daughter. I cannot even imagine how heartbreaking it must be to love your child and try to do everything you possibly can to help her, but to no avail. The authorities couldn't even handle her, yet they expected you to.
Were they at least able to ascertain what caused her problem -- like some kind of brain damage from a fall or a severe chemical imbalance? Maybe enough scientific advances have been made since then that she could have the problem remedied. I truly hope the drug rehab center will help wake her up so she will want to change. It is my prayer that one day she will be a blessing to you.
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