A Florida woman is in hot water for overusing the 911 emergency system, according to authorities in the Sunshine State.
Helen Alberta Thompson, a 60-year-old woman from Dunnellon, has been charged with one count of misusing 911, as revealed by court records in Marion County. Police say this isn’t the first time she’s been caught making unnecessary calls to the emergency line—far from it.
Officials claim Thompson dialed 911 over 30 times last year alone. The most recent incident took place on December 31, 2024. It was technically related to a medical issue, but the circumstances raised some eyebrows. According to a report filed by the Dunnellon Police Department, Thompson called 911 to complain about knee pain.
Here’s how it all unfolded. At about 3:30 in the afternoon, a police officer arrived at Thompson’s home on Rolling Hills Road in Dunnellon, a small town about 25 miles east of Ocala. Marion County Fire and Rescue had already asked for police backup, suspecting the call might be another misuse of the emergency line.
When the officer arrived, Thompson was sitting outside her apartment, waiting for the ambulance. The officer asked her what the emergency was, and she replied, “My knee hurts…my doctor wants me to get an X-ray.” When pressed further, Thompson admitted her doctor hadn’t actually told her to call 911 and confessed that she knew her knee pain wasn’t a real emergency. She explained that since she doesn’t drive and doesn’t have friends to help, she used 911 as a way to get transportation.
An emergency medical technician, familiar with Thompson’s history of 911 misuse, also arrived at the scene. The officer noted that Thompson had called 911 for non-emergencies, requiring an ambulance, 12 times in just the past six months. Because of her track record, law enforcement now has to accompany ambulance crews whenever they respond to her calls.
The officer shared a previous interaction with Thompson as well. About five months ago, they had been called to her home for a similar situation. At that time, Thompson was warned that continuing to misuse 911 could lead to her arrest. Even then, she had already made over 20 unnecessary calls in less than six months.
This time, the warning turned into action. Thompson was arrested and briefly held in the Marion County Jail before being released on her own recognizance the next day. She has pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charge and is being represented by a public defender because she is unable to afford legal representation.
Thompson was formally arraigned on Wednesday afternoon. For now, she faces legal consequences for her repeated misuse of a system designed for real emergencies.