Man jailed for making false emergency calls

Historic City News reminds our readers that if you want to get drunk and make prank phone calls, be sure you’re not calling 9-1-1 especially if there is no emergency. That lesson was learned early this morning by a St Augustine man who now finds himself in jail.

Timothy Walsh Wrigley, who gave booking officers 700 W Pope Road Apartment F41 at St Augustine Beach as his address, was arrested at 2:25 a.m. today after repeatedly calling emergency dispatchers using the restricted number; each time saying “it was a mistake” and that he didn’t mean to call 9-1-1.

“Wrigley called in six times, at 6:57 p.m., 12:13 a.m., 12:31 a.m., twice at 1:35 a.m. and again at 2:19 a.m. from the Sunrise Inn,” Officer William Protami stated in the incident report. “The dispatchers said he sounded like he had been drinking and was intoxicated. This is the 3rd call we have been out to with Wrigley tonight.”

Because of a sophisticated tracking system designed to get help where it’s needed in an actual emergency, sheriff’s dispatchers were able to direct Protami to the location where the calls originated.

When Protami arrived at 512 Anastasia Boulevard Room 202, he found Wrigley in possession of the cell phone that made the false emergency calls. At Wrigley’s request, Protami reported that he checked the cell phone and determined that before you can make a call, you must first unlock the phone with a code, or, hit the “emergency button” and then dial the numbers “911”.

Wrigley “appeared to have been drinking”, Protami reported; corroborating the dispatcher’s suspicions. “He did, in fact, sound slightly intoxicated.”

It is a first-degree misdemeanor to make a false 9-1-1 call. Wrigley was arrested at the motel and transported by police to the St Johns County Detention Facility at the Neil J Perry Criminal Justice Complex, where he remains in lieu of $500 bond.