Man Calls 911 For A Lift To A Bar

Authorities say a Florida man who called 911 claiming he’d been beaten and shot at was hoping the tale would get him a ride to a bar.

Instead, 37-year-old Gregory J. Oras is facing charges of misusing the 911 system and battery of a law enforcement officer.

An arrest report says Oras called 911 three times before his arrest early Tuesday in Oldsmar, northwest of Tampa. He told the dispatcher he had a broken nose and bleeding ears, and claimed people were shooting at him.

Authorities say he was actually looking for a ride to another bar.

The report also says Oras kicked a Pinellas County sheriff’s deputy in the knees and a Taser was used to subdue him.

Online records show he is being held at the Pinellas County Jail but don’t indicate whether he has an attorney.

Some Good Old-Fashioned Sticker Shock

When a Los Angeles hairstylist accepted a collect call from a customer, she had no idea it would run more than $45.

And no idea that’s just what collect calls from pay phones cost in the mobile age.

Barbara James gladly accepted the call from 84-year-old client Pat Devine, who said she was running late and called from a pay phone because her cell phone had died.

James’ bill from Network Communications International showed about $37 for the quick call, about $5 in regulatory fees and taxes, and about $3 for a “billing cost recovery fee.”

NCIC president Bill Pope says the tiny number of collect calls makes such prices inevitable.

Federal Communications Commission spokeswoman Rosemary Kimball says collect calls are largely unregulated since most major companies left the business.

Dimwitted Thieves Steal Fake Cell Phones

Call it the case of the dead cells — both telephones and the ones in the brain.

Employees at a Telefonica Movistar cell-phone store in Morelia, Mexico say they arrived to work one morning to find that the store had been broken into.

An examination of the shop revealed the only items missing were hollow replica phones for display that are completely useless for making calls.

Employees say the clueless thieves overlooked real cell phones and cash in another part of the shop.

Store owners nonetheless reported the theft to local police, who are investigating.

Court Fines Mother For Stalking Son

An Austrian woman who bombarded her son with phone calls over a two-and-a-half year period was fined by a court for stalking him,  Austrian media reported.

The 73-year-old woman, who phoned her son up to 49 times a day was fined 360 euros ($478) by the court in the southern city of Klagenfurt.

“I just wanted to talk to him,” the woman told the court, according to Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung. “I can’t talk to my son, nor my daughter.  I’ve never seen my grandchild — who is already 15-years-old,” she said.

The case was brought by the son. The court did not release their names.