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 Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2007 9:28 am Post subject: Marion Dispatchers Deal with Prank Callers |
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Students connected to prank calls involving 9-1-1 service
Sheriff's office tracks calls to River Valley school bus
By BEVIN PEPPARD
The Marion Star
MARION - Three local teens are in trouble with the law over a series of prank calls placed to 9-1-1 dispatchers.
"I think they're old enough to know what they were doing," said Chief Deputy Al Hayden of the Marion County Sheriff's Office. "I'm sure it was another case of not thinking about what they were doing."
Hayden said that beginning Sept. 13, dispatchers at the sheriff's office began receiving prank 9-1-1 calls. The calls continued the following day, then again Monday and Tuesday. In all, 35 prank calls were received. During some of the calls, the caller simply hung up.
"Sometimes that's a true emergency and people have been disconnected for various reasons," Hayden said, explaining that law enforcement officials take such calls seriously and attempt to investigate each one in case someone is really in need of help.
Other prank calls received, however, were clearly pranks with the caller saying phrases like, "Polly want a cracker," according to police records.
Dispatchers suspected that the calls were being placed from a school bus. Using the wireless enhanced 9-1-1 system which uses the global positioning system to track calls placed from cell phones, dispatchers Tuesday were able to determine the general area from which the calls were placed - Martel Road and Ohio 309 in the eastern portion of the county.
A call to the school bus supervisor for the River Valley School District helped officials pinpoint the bus the calls were coming from. The students, who attend River Valley Middle School, were detained on the bus until a deputy could arrive and question them. Ultimately, three students, a 14-year-old female, an 11-year-old female and an 11-year-old male, allegedly admitted to making the series of calls.
The case has been forwarded to the Marion County Prosecutor's Office for filing of formal charges. Assistant Prosecutor Larry Babich said Friday that he has not yet reviewed the case and declined to comment on any possible charges.
Hayden said that placing prank 9-1-1 calls is a form of disrupting public service, which, according to the Ohio Revised Code, is a fourth-degree felony punishable by six to 18 months in prison and a $5,000. Judges, however, have some discretion in sentencing juveniles and possible penalties can include anything from probation up to the maximum sentence of incarceration in a juvenile facility until the age of 21 in addition to a fine.
All three students have been suspended from school, according to the police report.
Hayden said that the sheriff's office takes these situations very seriously as it disrupts services to others in need.
"When you're doing that, it's a problem. You could be putting someone else in danger," he said. "Pranks sometimes can have serious consequences."
Reporter Bevin Peppard; 740-375-5155 or bpeppard@marionstar.com
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