When 911 Emergencies Are Not So Much

In today's edition: 911 dispatchers asked to help with pot brownie "overdose."

ByABC News
March 4, 2009, 2:53 PM

March 10, 2009— -- High as a kite from pot-laced brownies? Ticked at your cousin for running off with your Playstation? Can't find the name of that really cute cop?

Common sense would dictate that these little annoyances would not warrant a call to 911. Ditto for anyone who called to report missing chicken McNuggets or a traffic jam.

Yet every few months, audio is released detailing trivial -- if not ridiculous -- calls to emergency officials.

"We deal with prank calls and people checking in for the time of day," Florida's St. Lucie County Public Safety 911 operations coordinator Tiffany Bennett told ABCNews.com. "When you pick up that phone, you never know what's on the other end."

Her center has also gotten calls asking about holiday parade routes and how to fix a washing machine.

"Of course, you are going to giggle at some of the sillier stuff," she said.

Police responded to the home of an Athens, Ga., gamer last week after he called 911, frantic at the loss of his Playstation video game system.

Anthony White, 40, told the 911 operator that his cousin had stolen the system and that he was going to do whatever it took to get it back.

"I wanna go over and get my Playstation," White can be heard saying on the call, insisting that it was an emergency even after the operator informed him otherwise.

"Anthony, that's not an emergency. Hold on a minute," the operator says, to which Anthony replies, "Yeah, it is." When the operator explains the meaning of emergency, White shoots back, "I'm gonna kill the son of a b----. How about that?"

ABC affiliate WAAY reported that when police showed up at White's home, he told them he had a gun and requested they shoot him. After then threatening to shoot police, White was arrested on charges of making terroristic threats, which is a felony. He has bonded out of jail.

He could not be reached for comment.

It seems the brownies prevailed. Former Dearborn, Mich., Police Cpl. Edward Sanchez resigned from his post after calling 911 in April 2006 to report that the marijuana-laced brownies he and his wife had eaten were making them sick.

"I think we're dying," he said. "I think we're dead. I really do."

"Time is going by really, really, really, really slow," he added later.

Sanchez was on the phone with the dispatcher for about five minutes, convinced he and his wife were overdosing, but also asking for things like the time. He told the dispatcher they used a "quarter-ounce" of marijuana, but was not prosecuted.

A police commander at the department declined to tell local media last year why Sanchez was not prosecuted, according to The Associated Press, saying that he'd resigned as part of an internal investigation.

His wife, Stacey Sanchez, declined to comment. Sanchez could not be reached for comment.

\"Anthony, that's not an emergency. Hold on a minute,\" the operator says, to which Anthony replies, \"Yeah, it is.\" When the operator explains the meaning of emergency, White shoots back, \"I'm gonna kill the son of a b----. How about that?\"

ABC affiliate WAAY reported that when police showed up at White's home, he told them he had a gun and requested they shoot him. After then threatening to shoot police, White was arrested on charges of making terroristic threats, which is a felony. He has bonded out of jail.

He could not be reached for comment.

The Cop vs. the Pot Brownies

It seems the brownies prevailed. Former Dearborn, Mich., Police Cpl. Edward Sanchez resigned from his post after calling 911 in April 2006 to report that the marijuana-laced brownies he and his wife had eaten were making them sick.

\"I think we're dying,\" he said. \"I think we're dead. I really do.\"

\"Time is going by really, really, really, really slow,\" he added later.

Sanchez was on the phone with the dispatcher for about five minutes, convinced he and his wife were overdosing, but also asking for things like the time. He told the dispatcher they used a \"quarter-ounce\" of marijuana, but was not prosecuted.

A police commander at the department declined to tell local media last year why Sanchez was not prosecuted, according to The Associated Press, saying that he'd resigned as part of an internal investigation.

His wife, Stacey Sanchez, declined to comment. Sanchez could not be reached for comment.

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