The CNN video below is from an Anderson Cooper RidicuList report where he played excerpts from the tapes.
Mr. Skopec started by stating that his iPhone wasn’t working, but that he didn’t need police, fire, or ambulance assistance. Subsequent calls got no further. He refused to give his address, except for the one time he reported it as one-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. He didn’t want officers to come help him as he thought they would shoot him.
It was the fourth call that finally got to the root of the problem. Dispatcher:”Have you been drinking tonight sir?” Caller: “No, I’m just not very smart.”
At the 1:00 mark in the video, Mr. Skopec is asked he has an emergency, and replied, “Yes I do. My emergency is my &%$@ing phone don’t work.”
There’s no word on the status of the offending iPhone, but our observation is that when an iPhone isn’t activated, or if one’s service has lapsed, the only call you can make is to 911. We imagine it is highly likely that such was the case in this instance, and we’re sticking to that armchair diagnosis.
Bryan Chaffin contributed the armchair diagnosis to this article.