Calling 911 is usually reserved ONLY for emergencies or when someone requires immediate assistance from the police, fire department, and/or ambulance. Now, they also say that if you are ever in doubt if a situation counts as an “emergency,” you should still call 911. However, for some obscure reason, these folks seem to have taken that note a little too far when the chose to call 911. From receiving the wrong food order to dumb complaints, these were some of the most unfortunate (but funny) ways people have abused our emergency services.
In 2005, an online recording surfaced showing a Californian soccer mom getting mad at a 911 dispatcher because her Burger King burger wasn’t done right. You can hear the dispatcher in the background going, “Ma’am, we’re not going to go down there and enforce your order.”
Back in 2008, Joe McCain (politician John McCain’s younger brother) called 911 to whine about getting stuck in traffic. The dispatcher immediately let him know that he shouldn’t be calling for such a minuscule issue. Joe’s response was, “Screw you!” before hanging up.
Reginald Peterson (a resident of Jacksonville, Florida) called 911 when a Subway employee left off the sauce in his order. He even called the number back a second time to complain about the fact that the officers weren’t responding fast enough.
In 2013, a 4-year-old boy called 911 because he was having trouble with his math homework. The operator actually helped him solve some of the questions. The leaked phone recording ended up going viral.
A man in Lincoln, Nebraska called 911 because some of his favorite hookah pieces had gone missing. However, when the police arrived, they were a lot more interested in the “special plants” he had growing around the house.
Cynthia Colston called the emergency number when a nail tech in Florida didn’t do her nails to her liking. She called again when nobody showed up, and when the police finally did show up, she called AGAIN to complain that nothing was being done. Something was done, she went to jail.
Ex-police officer, Edward Sanchez, confiscated some weed during a bust. Later that evening, he went home and made some special brownies with his wife. He ended up calling 911 and telling the dispatcher that he was “dead.” Needless to say, he lost his job.
In 2010, an intoxicated Florida resident named Charles Dennison called 911 to complain about his mom who took his beer. He had lots of time to sober up in jail.
Andrew Mizsak, a 28-year-old local Cleveland school board member, once had his dad call 911 because he refused to clean his room. The call ended with a remorseful Mizsak quickly promising to pick up everything, and his dad apologizing to the dispatcher. (He didn’t actually want to ruin his son’s career).
Elaine Owens called 911 because she saw a fire in her bathroom. When the fire department showed up, they quickly realized that the flames she was describing were actually rays of sunlight reflecting off of the shower curtain.
In 2006, police knocked on Lorna Dudash’s door to let her know that her music was too loud. She called 911 to get the name of one of the officers, the reason, because she thought he was cute. She ended up spending the night in jail.
A woman named Mary Strey called 911 to report a dangerous driver. After the operator asked her who it was, she replied with, “No, I am the driver.” (This was after a long night of drinking).
Dan Davis, a 10-year-old boy, called 911 after his mother told him to go to bed. He threatened back with, “I’m going to call 911!” (which he did). Luckily, he wasn’t arrested, but a police officer did tuck him in.
In 2010, a Canadian man repeatedly called 911 because he wanted them to bring the Jets from Atlanta back to Winnipeg. The dispatcher warned him several times that the RCMP would take him to jail if he continued this behavior. His response, “Can they bring some smokes?”
In 2014, some thieves accidentally pocket dialed 911 after robbing a house. The operator overheard them discussing their loot.
A lady in Montana called 911 and told the dispatcher that “her house had a heartbeat” after she complained about her neighbor’s music being too loud. Hopefully, she was just trying to make a metaphor or something.
Raibin Osman called the police when a McDonald’s employee forgot to include a juice with his order. After abusing the system and refusing to relax, he was finally arrested and spent the night in an Oregon jail.
In 2011, a British man called their emergency number (999 instead of 911) to inform the dispatcher that a large light source was above his house. Two minutes later, he called back saying, “You won’t believe this, it was the moon!”
In 2012, a man named Rother McLennon from Connecticut called 911 after a deli messed up his order. The extremely patient dispatcher let him know him that if he didn’t like the sandwich then he could always leave the shop.
Hee Orama called 911 because her boyfriend couldn’t make up his mind on marriage. She told the dispatcher, “He wouldn’t make an honest woman of me.”
Two men, who had broken into a car, accidentally pocket dialed police once in Fresno, California as they were stealing prescription drugs from inside.
A man named Michael Alan Skopec decided to call 911 (and not Apple) because he needed help fixing his phone. He did this repeatedly, and as a result, was taken to jail.
In 2009, a Texas woman named Elsa Benson apparently called 911 because he husband was refusing to eat his dinner. She had a record for abusing the number.
A robber in Shelby Country, Ohio pocket dialed police while he was breaking into a property. He proceeded to hide in the closet, but when police arrived, his phone’s ‘low battery’ alarm went off- giving him completely away.
This article has been rewritten based on the original source.