Washington man arrested in Henry County for misuse of 911

MT. PLEASANT — A Henry County Sheriff’s Deputy and Emergency Medical Services were dispatched to a medical call Dec. 14, which eventually resulted in the arrest of Craig Stout, 55 of Washington, for misuse of 911.

Stout was not the individual in need of medical services, but did call 911 for this incident.

At approximately 5:19 p.m., emergency services were dispatched to 2435 Franklin Avenue for a male subject in need of medical attention. While on the scene, Stout called 911 to complain that EMS and the Deputy at the scene were not listening to him, a press release from Henry County Sheriff’s Office states.

The criminal complaint filed with Iowa Courts further explains that while EMS personnel were speaking with the patient, Stout called 911 “because he was unhappy with the first responders on scene.” The patient refused medical aid and EMS personnel could not force transport or evaluation.

Before leaving the scene, the deputy informed Stout of the proper use of the 911 system as emergency only.

According to the criminal complaint, Stout then called 911 to file a non-emergency complaint against the deputy. Dispatch informed Stout the call was not an emergency and gave him the non-emergency number three times. While he then called the non-emergency number to finish his complaint, he still proceeded to call 911 for a third time and requested to speak with the deputy that responded to the incident.

Deputies arrived on the scene, arrested Stout, and transported him to Henry County Jail without incident. The deputy reported, “the odor of alcoholic beverages” emitted from Stout when removing him form the patrol vehicle.

According to an informational post shared by the Henry County Sheriff’s Office on social media over the summer, the county’s dispatch center is usually only staffed by one dispatcher.

“If someone misuses 911 and calls it for a non-emergency, it is a real possibility that they could be delaying the dispatcher from answering an actual emergency 911 call,” the post states.

Calls to 911 should be reserved for events such as life or death situations, injury accidents, ambulance needs and fires. When a crime such as an attack, assault, robbery, or burglary is in progress, calls to 911 are also appropriate.

Real examples of non-emergency 911 calls to Henry County Dispatch include individuals asking for help when they lock their keys in an unoccupied car, asking dispatch to contact another person due to not having minutes on a phone, asking for phone numbers, reporting a neighbor’s cat on a car leaving footprints, and even losing a pair of air pods.

“So, we just ask that you ensure you’re using the proper phone number,” the post urges. “Call 911 for emergencies and call 319-385-2712 for non-emergencies. And no matter which number you use, we’ll always only be just one call away.”

Comments: AnnaMarie.Kruse@southeastiowaunion.com