A teenage girl in Kansas, 15 or 16, placed a 911 call on her cell phone from her driveway saying she was being kidnapped at gunpoint. She hid out somewhere in the area for about 15 hours, while 30+ FBI staff and goodness knows how many local police were looking for her, and there was a big fuss over her when she was "found" safe. Later she fessed up.

A couple in Missouri said the wife had given birth to sextuplets, and persisted even when local hospitals and doctors denied delivering the babies - even showed a closet full of premie clothes on TV. They hoped to get lots of donations so they could pay off their bills. Now, of course, they are being charged with fraud.

You have to wonder what goes (or doesn't go) through people's minds some times.

By Dawnk777 on Thursday, April 13, 2006 - 07:02 pm:

Good grief. *rolls eyes*

By Karen~moderator on Thursday, April 13, 2006 - 07:26 pm:

People just never cease to amaze me..........

By Tripletmom on Thursday, April 13, 2006 - 07:28 pm:

Gotta Wonder

By Cocoabutter on Thursday, April 13, 2006 - 09:29 pm:

Yep, I wonder too.

I know that these stories were ones of people perpetrating fraud, I have a different, yet just as flabbergasting one.

http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?s=4739612


(Update: Detroit, April 7, 2006, 12:24 p.m.) An investigation is underway in Detroit after a six-year-old boy called 911 to get help for his mom, and the operator acted as if it were a joke.

Detroit NBC Affiliate WDIV reports that six-year-old Robert Turner called 911 on February 20. He thought his mother, 46-year-old Sherrill Turner, had passed out. She was later found dead.

911 tapes detail the call, where the boy tells a female operator that his mom had passed out. The operator demands to speak to an adult before sending police.

The boy eventually hung up and called back a short time later. This time, the same operator warns the boy that he could get in trouble for making a prank call to 911. The boy said police didn't arrive until three hours later and found his mother dead.

The boy is living with family members, who are now pursuing a lawsuit.

Officials said the 911 operator will be disciplined, but because of her years of service she will not be fired.

Police continue to investigate.

BTW, Geoffrey Fieger is now the family's attorney and is suing the City of Detroit.

By Dawnk777 on Friday, April 14, 2006 - 08:15 am:

Unreal. I have a friend whose very young daughter accidentally dialed 911 here. When the operator couldn't get any information, they sent a cop out to the house, within minutes to make sure everything was okay. My friend was really embarrassed and after that, made sure the phone was out of reach of her daughter. The cop was good-natured about the whole thing. So, I can't see that happening here.

It's been in the news a lot that other kids have called 911 many times before, for sick parents. I don't know why that operator didn't believe the kid.

By Insaneusmcwife on Friday, April 14, 2006 - 09:08 am:

I don't know why she didn't either and personally I feel very strongly that she should be relieved of her job. The fact that she has all those years of service is one more reason she should be let go. She knew better than to not take the call seriously and should have send some one to investigate specially when he couldn't get anyone else on the phone. I for one would not want her answering any of our local 911 calls.

By Bellajoe on Friday, April 14, 2006 - 05:30 pm:

I agree, she should be fired. That is awful! And so sad. That little boy could have saved his mothers life, he did all the right things and the stupid adult was the one who didn't follow thru.

By Amecmom on Friday, April 14, 2006 - 06:13 pm:

I agree. It was not her job to decide if the call was fake or real. It was just her job to dispatch the proper responders.

It takes all kinds to make a society. I just wish we had a few more of the extraordinarily good, rather than the ones that have been posted about here.

Ame

By Tonya on Monday, April 17, 2006 - 08:27 am:

That is only 1 of 2 issues that happen in Detroit (close to where I live) in the last 2 weeks. Another was a women had been shot in the head and she was calling 911 for herself they told her she was lying that if she was shot in t he head she couldn't call them. She had to hang up and call her brother in another state to get him to call 911 for her here and they showed up. She is now paralized from the neck down and not sure if she will ever get her movement back again.

And again, Geoffrey Fieger is now the family's attorney and is suing the City of Detroit.

By Bobbie~moderatr on Monday, April 17, 2006 - 10:11 am:

We had a similar issue here with 911. A man called in saying his wife had been shot. The woman is in the back ground screaming. The man couldn't give the 911 operator an address (someone had shot through the trunk of their car while he was driving) and was very upset (of course his wife is shot). The operator got really nasty with him, he hung up called back and she was twice as nasty. He ended up driving his wife to the hospital. The 911 operator wasn't fired, they said she was just doing her job. She was a rude from the moment she said 911 in the very first call. NOT the type of person I would want on the other end of the line while I was in a frantic state for sure..

By Dawnk777 on Monday, April 17, 2006 - 11:31 am:

Good grief, Bobbie! That 911 person wouldn't want a rude person on the other end, if they were in trouble!

By Cocoabutter on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 - 05:30 pm:

Update:

Wayne county prosecutor Kym Worthy has charged the 911 operators with willful neglect of duty and, if convicted, they face up to one year in jail.

http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5000691