DOCUMENT: Florida, Crime

Repeat: Do Not Call 911 If You Need A Taxi

Florida man also told dispatchers about his lost football

Police Car

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911 Taxi Calls

FEBRUARY 21--Meet Michael Barker.

The Florida man, 55, repeatedly called 911 Sunday evening and asked police dispatchers to call him a taxi. Barker also advised that he had lost his football and was standing on his head atop a telephone pole.

Since Barker was calling from a cell phone, cops were able to “ping” his location to the vicinity of a Methodist Church in Hudson. When sheriff’s deputies located him, Barker was on the phone with a police operator.

Spotting cops, he hung up the phone and covered his head with a blanket. During subsequent questioning, Barker told cops, “I called 911 like eleven times cause I need you to call me a taxi,” according to a Pasco Sheriff’s Office report.

Barker was then arrested for misusing 911, and had his phone impounded by investigators. He was booked into the county jail, where he is being held in lieu of $150 bond.

Based on his mug shot, Barker seems to have needed law enforcement help to put his best face forward. (2 pages)