Ex-Firefighter Charged in Fake 911 Calls

[Champ]

STOWE, Vt. - A former volunteer firefighter is facing charges that he made a series of false 911 calls so he could watch fire engines race toward fabricated emergencies.

Donald Griggs, 19, has pleaded not guilty to charges of false public alarms and false reports to law-enforcement officials. He was released on conditions following his arraignment last week in Vermont District Court in Barre, said Evelyn Bailey, executive director of the Vermont Enhanced 911 Board.

"It puts everybody in jeopardy," said Lamoille County Sheriff Roger Marcoux, who helped investigate the calls. "We're pretty busy as it is. To chase around false calls makes things even tighter."

Court documents say Griggs used a cell phone he found in a Morrisville parking lot to call the emergency phone number about 15 times between Nov. 21 and Dec. 8. The phone was not associated with a wireless-service provider, so the only number it could call was 911, Bailey said.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=816&ncid=816&e=4&u=/ap/20041216/ap_on_fe_st/emergency_hoaxes

[skygazer]

1. Wow! He got a signal in Vermont?!

Amazing. I bring my cell when I visit but I've never had much luck getting a signal.

[LoZoccolo]

2. "infatuated with fire trucks"

That phrase makes me laugh!

[Historic NY]

4. don't laugh I've encounter a couple in my LE career...........

its actually a sexual thing, I'm sure any good psychiatrist could explain it to you. I actually caught my callers by watching them as I staged a fire truck going by with lights and sirens. They confessed after they cleaned themselves up. No joke.

[LoZoccolo]

5. Oh weird!

I heard of some kid in Seattle who would actually set fires; I wonder if it's a similar case. There were some other weird things going on there though, like the kid was abused by a firefighter.

[Cocoa]

3. this is not a good idea in a small community

Police were able to track Griggs because they recognized his voice, Marcoux said.