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Florida Man Arrested for Calling 911 Dispatcher, Asking for Sex

By Kamika Dunlap on November 16, 2009 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

911 is the number to call for a wide variety of emergencies. These do not include the emergencies recently experienced by Tampa's Joshua Basso.

Instead of calling a hotline or a 1-800 number, he called a 911 dispatcher looking for sex.

He claimed it was the only number he could dial after running out of cell phone minutes, the Associated Press reports.

Basso, is charged with making a false 911 call. The local Tampa news site reports that he admitted to making obscene calls to 911 in the past.

According to the Tampa police report, "The caller advised the 911 dispatcher that he was in the bathroom looking for sex and continued to make several obscene comments regarding masturbation and body parts."

Here is the 911 call Basso made for his sex emergency.

Police said he also asked the dispatcher if he could come to her house. The dispatcher hung up, but the man identifying himself as "Josh" continued to call back four more times.

When police arrived at his house, they found Basso in the bathroom. He told police he called 911 because it was free and he didn't think he could get in trouble for calling.

Basso admitted to authorities he asked the operator about her clothing, her breasts, and her "butt" and gave her his address.

He now faces a misdemeanor charge of misuse of wireless 911 system. Police reports show that Basso has arrests for theft and other crimes dating back to 2001. 

Currently, Basso is being in held in a Tampa jail without bail.

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