Welcome to another edition of Weird and Wacky Wednesdays, where we often delve into the bizarre and hilarious ways people try to trick or misuse the police, only to have their schemes backfire spectacularly. Our stories this week are sure to leave you shaking your head and perhaps even laughing out loud.
911, What’s Your Emergency?
In North Liberty, Iowa, an 18-year-old woman named Sumaya Thomas took extreme measures to avoid a date. It seems she was having second thoughts about the planned encounter after connecting with a man on a dating app and telling him they would meet.
To avoid the date she called 911, falsely accusing him of being a domestic abuser and claiming she was pregnant with his child. The police responded, they detained the bewildered man, who showed them text messages proving he had only just met Thomas. Under questioning, she admitted to fabricating the story because she got cold feet. Now, she faces misdemeanor charges for making a false report, while the man is left questioning his dating choices.
Failed Feint
It turns out fake 911 calls are an international problem. In Northcote, New Zealand, a 50-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman are now charged after attempting to divert police attention with a fake 111 (their 911) call. Police were investigating a stolen vehicle parked in the driveway of a home.
They were interrupted by a 111-call reporting an unrelated incident in a neighboring nearby. Suspecting foul play, the officers traced the call back to the same address they were at. A search of the property revealed a cache of illegal items, including a modified pistol, drugs, and $10,000 in cash. The man was arrested on multiple charges, while the woman was detained for making the false report. The pair’s attempt to deceive the police certainly deepening their legal troubles.
Crying Wolf
The last story for this week is someone who thinks they are the smartest in the room, but really, they were only fooling themselves. In El Paso, Texas, 19-year-old Stacie Dashay Marie Smith thought she could speed up the search for her friend’s stolen vehicle by reporting a missing child.
Smith called the police, claiming her one-year-old child was inside the stolen car. Officers quickly located the vehicle but found no child inside. When investigators pressed Smith, she confessed that the child did not exist and the photo she provided was of her friend’s baby. Smith admitted she made up the story to help her friend recover the vehicle faster. Now she faces charges for false reporting and is left to ponder the consequences of her misguided attempt to assist her friend.
