Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
A second-grader from Harrison Elementary School learned Wednesday that making prank 911 calls is a serious offense.
Between 8:19 and 8:35 a.m. Wednesday, the 7-year-old student made six 911 calls from a cell phone while he stood at his bus stop and rode the bus to school.
During the first call, the boy told Jackie Treft, a Kosciusko County dispatcher, he was "locked in his uncle's truck and there was a fire outside."
As the calls continued, Treft noticed the sound of several children in the background.
The calls were traced using the enhanced 911 system, and the dispatchers noticed the location of the calls seemed to be moving. The first call came from Orchard Ridge Apartments while subsequent calls originated from Poor Drive, Corridor Drive and the Indian Village Addition.
Treft then wondered if the call was coming from a school bus.
While Treft was talking with the boy during a call, another dispatcher, Millie Francis, called Warsaw Community Schools Transportation Director Della Swain and asked if there was a school bus in the area where the call was coming from.
"The bus was getting ready to make his last stop (before heading to the school)," Francis said.
Francis then asked Swain to have the bus driver wait for an officer to arrive because there was a problem with someone on the bus. When the bus arrived at Harrison Elementary School, Principal Randy Polston and Warsaw Police Officer Eric Coburn were waiting.
Polston boarded the bus and talked with the driver, who told Polston he was "unaware of the calls but noticed a child messing with a cell phone" on the bus. Polston said "the driver knew right away" who made the calls to 911.
