Butt-dialed 911 call leads to drug arrest

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Butt dialing is embarrassing. And annoying.

It also can land you in jail.

That's what happened to a Tennessee man last week.

Emergency dispatchers in Mount Pleasant — about 60 miles south of Nashville — received a strange 911 call. At first, they thought it was just an open line.

But then they heard a man talking about drugs, getting high and a drug dealer's house. Dispatchers tracked the location of the phone call, and a police officer headed that way, according to a police report on the incident.

When the officer arrived on scene, he noticed a white Chevy Impala backing out of the parking lot of a Mexican restaurant. Since it had a taillight out, the officer decided to stop the vehicle and check it out. He noticed the passenger reaching down to the floor.

The officer asked dispatchers to call the phone back but they couldn't make contact.

To see if he had the right people, the officer told the driver about the emergency call, and the passenger jumped in and said he had accidentally called 911.

The driver agreed to allow the officer to search the vehicle, not knowing about the drugs inside the car, according to police.

Turns out there was marijuana and syringes near the passenger's seat and a leather case containing a spoon and burnt residue.

Now Grant O'Connor, 25, of Columbia, Tenn., is probably wishing he had locked his phone. Or didn't have a cellphone altogether.

He was arrested and charged with possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia, according to police.

Although he invoked his right not to speak, O'Connor did tell the police the drugs were all his. The driver was not charged.

Mount Pleasant Police Chief Michael Hay could not be reached for comment Thursday. But he told the Columbia Daily Herald that the incident was certainly unique.

"This is a first for me," Hay told the newspaper. "Most phones lock now. I don't know what was wrong with his phone, but it worked out for us in the end."

Gang also reports for The Tennessean. Contributing: Adam Tamburin of The Tennessean