(Published Tuesday, February 20, 2007 10:16:07 AM CST)
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
Associated Press
SHEBOYGAN, Wis. - An 8-year-old girl used her mother's discarded cell phone to make more than 100 prank calls to 911, in some cases swearing or indicating there was a fire or someone was stabbed, a sheriff's deputy said Monday.
AT&T and Tracfone searched their records to assist the Sheboygan County sheriff's department in tracking the phone number to its owner over the weekend, Lt. Jim Risseeuw said Monday. The girl's parents were unaware of the calls, he said.
"She was swearing," Risseeuw said. "In some cases, she would initially state like there was a fire at the house or one case, someone had been stabbed, that type of thing. She would back off of that story and go into prankster-type behavior."
The girl, who identified herself as "Matthew" when she made the calls, won't be charged or referred to juvenile authorities because of her age, Risseeuw said.
"At this point, the matter was corrected," Risseeuw said. "We'll leave it for the parents to deal with."
Investigators confiscated the cell phone Saturday to positively identify it as the phone used to make the calls, he said.
All cell phones are enabled to make 911 calls even if they don't have active service, Risseeuw said.
The third-grader began making the calls Feb. 10, "pretty much daily," said Risseeuw, who was unsure of where the girl was when she made most of the calls.
Other children also may have been involved, Risseeuw said. The girl also disguised her voice at times, Risseeuw said.
The calls were received by the sheriff's department because all cellular 911 calls made in the county are routed to the county dispatch center.
"Anytime that you have people tying up 911 lines on a prank, obviously they're putting people with true emergencies in danger because we can't answer the call," said Bill Bruckbauer, the department's director of operations.
