Man arrested after calling 911 44 times, harassing dispatchers, police say
By Pat Reavy, KSL.com
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OREM, Utah (KSL) — A Taylorsville man is facing charges after police say he called 911 more than 40 times, was “vulgar and profane” with dispatchers, and at one point made reference to the killing of Charlie Kirk.
John Wayne Pickett, 41, was charged Thursday in 4th District Court with emergency reporting abuse, a second-degree felony; electronic communication harassment, a class B misdemeanor; and intoxication, a class C misdemeanor.
On Sept. 28, police say Pickett called 911 in Orem to report that he had been assaulted.
“When the dispatcher asked for additional information, (Pickett) became vulgar and profane, insulting the dispatcher,” according to charging documents. “Over the course of about an hour and a half, (he) made 44 calls to 911.”
After first claiming he was being assaulted, he then alleged he was a victim of sexual assault, theft and “eventually claiming that his child was being withheld from him illegally,” the charges state. “Throughout his calls, (Pickett) was insulting, made sexually suggestive comments, mentioned a recent shooting in Orem of a national figure, and implied shooting officers.”
A police booking affidavit further states that “he has previously made overt threats to officers and stated he would shoot them if they knocked on his door.”
He claimed the crimes were happening at an address in Orem, but when police went there, they found nothing. Police eventually traced Pickett’s calls to a storage unit near 1450 W. 800 North in Orem, the affidavit says.
“I located John standing outside of his storage unit … and ordered him to the ground. John had his phone in one hand, actively on a call with dispatch, and an open beer in the other,” the arresting officer wrote.
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