Prank Caller Arrested–27,000 Calls

Hayward (N. Calif.) police have arrested a man and charged him with making thousands of prank 911 calls using an unregistered cellular handset. John Triplette, 45, was taken into custody at his home, and is suspected of making over 27,000 phony 911 calls. The calls started in May, 2007 with thousands of 911 calls that were answered by the CHP. The agency apparently didn’t pursue the phony calls, and then in January Hayward took over the task of fielding wireless 911 calls within the city. They immediately began receiving the calls allegedly dialed by Triplette–10,000 calls, including 1,327 in one week. The calls increased Hayward’s 911 traffic by 30%, officials said. Finally, the FCC helped to track Triplette down. Read the full story here. Reminder: In 2002 the FCC clarified that its rules do not preclude carriers from blocking harassing 911 calls from non-service initialized phones “pursuant to applicable state and local law enforcement procedures.” Download (pdf) the FCC’s original Public Notice here.