Harassment, Stalking, Misconduct Waco man arrested for harassing calls to "911"

army judge

army judge

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Texas
WACO, Texas (KWTX) A Waco man who police say called 911 seven times in two hours on Monday remained jailed Tuesday, charged with abusive call to 911 service.

Otis Degrate, 64, was held in lieu of $1,000 bond Tuesday.

"It was reported that beginning at around 6:30 in the morning, Mr. Degrate called 911 to speak with officers about his 'sixth sense,'" police said in a Facebook post Tuesday.

"After officers and dispatch informed him that it wasn't an emergency and that we have a non-emergency phone number Degrate continued to call 911. He called a total of 7 times in 2 hours and told officers that he would keep calling, forcing officers to take him into custody for abusing the 911 service," police said.

The Waco Police Department has a line for non-emergency calls.

The number is (254) 750-7500.

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I'd like to learn MORE about Degrate's SIXTH sense........










Local man arrested for calling 911 seven times in 2 hours
 

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I once arrested someone for the same thing but he had an even longer track record. It was believed he may have a mental illness so this was tolerated for quite awhile. It's been awhile and I don't recall what his complaint was, but the 911 operators kept telling him to stop calling and the deputies who responded kept telling him to use the non-emergency number.
One morning I came in to work at 5am and learned deputies had already been out there twice and within minutes another call came in and the dispatcher was clearly annoyed.
Enough is enough. I went out there and found no emergency and hooked him up. I'll just say he was very unhappy about it. I wrote up a report with an attachment from dispatchers showing all his phone calls over the past couple of months.
It was a really weird arrest to make, but the law exists for just that reason.
He never called again.
 
mightymoose said:
He never called again.
Click to expand...

Arrests have been known to cure drug addictions, occasionally mental illness, and stupidity.

Did your guy have a "sixth sense"?

I may have to call the court clerk to learn about his "sixth sense".

Could it be like a sixth finger or toe?
 
No sixth sense.
He was building a boat in his garage and had it "boobytrapped" with lasers. He never could get it to work right.
He liked to talk to me because of my military background, so I hurt his feelings when I finally came and picked him up. He didn't HAVE to go to jail, it could have been handled out of custody, but the trip to jail kept him off the phone.
He was a bigger guy and didn't fit too well into handcuffs or the back of a police car. He demanded I call the "paddywagon" to pick him up. He didn't enjoy the experience too much, especially due to the lack of a paddywagon.
He was an interesting guy.

Yes, I cured another problem caller the same way. Regular complaints at night of a suspicious person in her yard or something going bump in the night. One day I finally hooked her up for being tweaked out of her mind. I doubt I resolved her drug issue, but she stopped calling too.
 
mightymoose said:
Yes, I cured another problem caller the same way. Regular complaints at night of a suspicious person in her yard or something going bump in the night. One day I finally hooked her up for being tweaked out of her mind. I doubt I resolved her drug issue, but she stopped calling too.
Click to expand...


A LEO has many tools at the officer's disposal, arrest is a very effective one for the infrequent miscreant; as well as an occasional professional ne'er do well.
 
Hmmm,the "Sixth Sense."
Now that makes for a really good defense at trial.I can see it now the judge is turning in his swivel chair to get a good laugh on that one.
Really though,just thinking about it,I think "No sense" probably would be the better,more accurate defense,LOL.
 

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