A drunk 46-year-old homeless man was arrested and charged with abuse of the 911 emergency call system and public intoxication on Sept. 12 after calling the emergency number for no real reason.
At 8:02 a.m. officers of the Santa Monica Police Department went to the 7-11 Store located at 630 Wilshire Boulevard after they had received a report of an intoxicated man who had been calling 911 multiple times from the payphone that was located outside that store.
When the officers arrived they located the man, who at the time of their arrival was on the payphone with Santa Monica Police Department Dispatch, making yet another call (perhaps he was reporting himself?).
The officers, who were wearing the unmistakable uniform of police officers, announced their presence to this man who swung around and asked them who they were.
The officers told him they were police officers and he then told them that there was not an emergency per se, but that he did need a ride to West Los Angeles.
The officers took a look at this man and decided that he was drunk, and not able to care for himself.
The officers conducted a records check and discovered that this man had called 911 six times that day, and many other times the previous day, including a call that resulted in the Fire Department responding to assist him for no real reason.
This 46-year-old homeless man was arrested and charged with abuse of the 911 emergency call system, and public intoxication.
Bail was set at $50,000.
Editor’s Note: These reports are part of a regular police coverage series entitled “Alert Police Blotter” (APB), which injects some minor editorial into certain police activities in Santa Monica. Not all of the Mirror’s coverage of incidents involving police are portrayed in this manner. More serious crimes and police-related activities are regularly reported without editorial in the pages of the Santa Monica Mirror and its website, smmirror.com.