Burglars 'Butt Dialing' 911 Leads to Their Arrest
Two Fresno, Calif. men were arrested after accidentally "butt-dialing" 911 as they attempted to break into a car. The 911 responder is credited with staying on the line and listening to the suspects' plans to break in, then sending police to their location.
"What is your emergency?" the 911 responder asked after receiving a call. When no one answered, the operator stayed on the line and listened to the conversation between Nathan Teklemariam and Carson Rinehart. The two discussed wanting to find and do drugs, which apparently required them breaking into a car.
"Get the bolt and give me the hammer just in case," one of the voices said.
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The operator heard a window shatter and voices shouting that they had found prescription drugs.
"They're narcos! Yeah! We'll go back and search in a little bit and search the whole thing, but we'll park far away, you know?" one of the men said.
During the call, the dispatcher sent police to the area, allowing them to trace the phone's signal and provide information about the men's actions. Police did catch up to the suspects and pulled them over.
"Oh, he's following me, dog," one of the suspects told police. "Wow, what the [expletive] did I do?"
The two men denied that they had done anything wrong, but police knew better and thoroughly searched the vehicle. They found the prescription drugs taken from the vehicle and took the men into custody; authorities explained that a 911 operator had heard the entire ordeal.
"This fool really called 911?" one of the suspects asked. "Damn."
The men have been charged with burglary, conspiracy, and possession of stolen property. Thanks to the 911 operator's recording, police have more than enough evidence to put the men away.
"I have never heard of something like this. There have been times where the dispatcher hears something like this, but never has a call come in before a crime being committed and staying on all the way to the end," Sgt. Jaime Rios of the Fresno Police Department told ABC News.
