Man Arrested For Calling Police Three Times to Complain About a Penny

We have heard of people being arrested for making false accusations and claims, however this is the first time I’ve heard that someone has been arrested over a penny.

Your Black World reports:

A Tennessee man was arrested after calling 911 to complain that he’d been overcharged by a penny while purchasing beer. Danny Smith, 51, called 911 to complain that a clerk in Memphis, Tenn. had overcharged him in the amount of one cent for his Heineken beer.

Officers arriving at the scene said Smith told them ‘the store clerk overcharged him and owed him 1 cent in change.’ The officers were annoyed by Smith, but Smith was undeterred. He called 911 again, and was told again that the one cent overcharge was a civil matter and he should only call 911 if someone’s life was in danger.

For a second time, officers arrived on the scene, but this time they interviewed the clerk. While officers were interviewing the clerk, Smith called the non-emergency police line, making this his third call to law enforcement.

When asked why he called, Smith said “police was not helping him get his penny back from the business.”

He was arrested for abµsing the 911 emergency system.

Smith was booked and released on $250 bond.

People have gotten in trouble for calling 911 in the past as well. In April of this year, a woman called 911 to get a refund from her drug dealer.

Katrina Tisdale, 47, was arrested after she allegedly called 911 to ask police to help her get her money back from a drug dealer. According to the Tampa Bay Times,  Tisdale spent what little money she had left on drugs, then called 911 to report that she’d been a victim of theft. When police arrived, she asked them to help her get her money back from a drug dealer.

Just for fun I put together a conversion of 1 penny in some currencies around the world. This simply shows the amount of money for which someone called the police

1 penny = 1.60 Nigerian Naira

1 penny = 0.06 Chinese Yuan

1 penny = 0.06 Argentine Peso

1 penny = 0.62 Indian Rupee

1 penny = 0.98 Japanese Yen