Sacramento man reports “Officer Down” for faster police response during landlord dispute www.privateofficer.com

 

 

 

Sacramento CA Feb 2 2012 A 44-year-old Sacramento man dialed 911 Wednesday morning to report an “officer down” – just to get officers to respond more quickly to an argument with his landlord, authorities allege.
He got a fast response, all right. He also got a trip to jail.
Police arrested Rayard Simmons Sr. on suspicion of falsely reporting an emergency, a misdemeanor, said spokesman Sgt. Andrew Pettit.
Simmons – whose aliases include “The General” – also was arrested on suspicion of violating the terms of his probation, a felony, according to Sacramento County Main Jail booking records. He was held in lieu of $20,000 bail.
Simmons was on probation after a 2010 no-contest plea to a felony charge of threatening the life of a government official, and then violating a court order in 2011, according to Sacramento Superior Court records available online.
Wednesday’s call came into the California Highway Patrol dispatch via cellphone at 10 a.m., Pettit said. The call was transferred to Sacramento police dispatchers, who got on the radio to sound the alarm: “Officer down.”
It’s the kind of call cops dread – and which prompts an unparalleled police response, which Simmons apparently was counting on.
Pettit said he did not know exactly how many officers turned on their lights and sirens to rush “Code 3″ to the scene but said five cars – including one from the Sheriff’s Department – showed up before officers knew enough to slow down the response.
As the first officers arrived at Pell Drive, near Interstate 80 and Northgate Boulevard, they saw a man walking with a cellphone. They asked him if he had made the 911 call, and he said yes, Pettit said.
He also admitted he lied to dispatchers – punctuating his words with the question “Do you understand?” before hanging up – so the cops would come quickly, Pettit said.
Not to mention, “he wanted to beat (his landlord) from calling us first,” Pettit said.
Officers later learned that Simmons rents space for his business, apparently a recording studio, Pettit said. His landlord tried to evict him Wednesday, igniting the dispute.
It’s not the first time a caller has used a ruse to speed up response times. But Pettit said those callers usually exaggerate circumstances, such as reporting someone has been shot when there were only shots fired or the presence of a gun when none was actually seen.
Reporting an officer down – that’s a rarity, Pettit said.
Officers were relieved to find the call was unfounded, Pettit said, but also frustrated.
“Officers take this very seriously,” he said. “We usually drop what we’re doing to get to a call like this.”
He noted that officers will always respond to such a call rolling “Code 3,” driving at faster than normal speeds and clearing congested intersections.
Abusing the system in such a way, he said, “is just dangerous.”

Source:www.sacbee.com