For many high school students, prank calls are a part of youthful fun. Late at night, teens pull out their cell phones and start making calls to their friends, family, and sometimes even strangers in order to get a good laugh. While these prank calls are normally harmless, there are times that the police may get involved. Normally, this is when the calls are disturbing the peace of those around or tampering with a number like 911. In the past, people have been arrested for abusing prank calls. Two middle school students in Atlanta were arrested for making prank calls to 911 from their school in 2010.
According to the press, the boys called reporting a fictional fight at the school, and then telephoned the dispatcher and issued a line of lewd statements. The police let the first two offenses slide, but arrested the boys when they called the next day and reported a fake bomb threat. The boys had thought to remove their SIM cards from their cell phones, so that the calls would be difficult to trace. Eventually, officers were able to locate the suspects through interviewing teachers and students at the junior high school. The boys were taken into custody and confessed to their crime. They were charged with transmission of a false public alarm and disruption of a public school. They were later arraigned in a juvenile court.
Another teen in Salt Lake City, Utah was accused of a similar crime when she made over 1,600 calls to 911. The calls were placed over a 4 month period, and the girl would make up to 100 calls per night. She used two dead cell phones to place the false alarms, but the police were still able to find her. People could be charged with the same offenses if they sporadically pulled a fire alarm for no reason or set off an emergency signal without just cause. You don’t have to be telephoning 911 in order to be arrested for a prank call. In May, a similar instance sent another teen to jail in North Arizona. The young man was calling 911 to report a criminal sighting, and the school was placed on lockdown. His prank call may have seemed humorous, but he is nor facing charges for his irritating practical joke.
A threatening and dangerous call that is mentally or physically disturbing or damaging for the victim can also merit the caller a prison-sentence. Disturbing the peace and making hampering or irritating phone calls is illegal in every state. While it is most likely that you won’t be arrested for just one charge, once your offenses start mounting you may find yourself in trouble. In a non-911 related incident, a woman was recently arrested in Louisiana because of her calls to local police offices, friends and family. She claimed that a disturbing man was visiting her property, but the incident was never proven. The prankster was arrested for criminal mischief.
If charged with criminal mischief in a prank call situation, a minor would be issued a misdemeanor and arrested. He or she may be forced to relinquish his or her driver’s license and pay fines. For adults, the same charges may apply, along with potential jail time. If your prank calls involve some sort of death threat, even in mischief, then you can be charged with a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on the court’s interpretation of the crime. For a misdemeanor, you could spend up to a year in jail, and a felony can carry a three year sentence. If you have been charged with a crime related to a prank call, then contact a criminal defense attorney in your area right away for defense.
