A Florida man was arrested last week for calling 911 repeatedly, seeking a police escort to the residence of rapper Lil Wayne. Michael Kruse, 20, charged with making false emergency calls by the St. John’s County Sheriff’s Office. According to thesmokinggun.com, Kruse called 911 on his cell phone, from his Ford Taurus repeatedly, asking for a police escort -by -helicopter – to take him to Miami so he could meet with Lil Wayne. An arriving officer probed Kruse, who admitted to calling 911 the previous day as well. In that incident, Kruse told 911 operators that he might need medical attention because he was under the influence of an unknown substance. When the arriving officer attempted to help, Kruse refused medical attention. The United States’ 911 system launched in 1968 and handles over 240 million calls annually, with 99% of the country covered with the service. Officials are looking to crack down on abuse of the 911 system. In some cities, up to 80% of the calls placed to 911 are non-emergency. In March, a woman was arrested for calling 911 three times, to complain that McDonalds was out of Chicken McNuggets, after she had paid for a ten piece meal. Last year, a San Francisco man was charged with calling 911 more than 27,000 times. Bother were charged with misuse of 911 charge and fined as well.
