Arrest made in crank 911 calls

Jen Lawson

Friday, Feb. 20, 2004 | 9:45 a.m.

Metro Police were called to the Palm Village apartments in northeast Las Vegas four times this week and once last month to investigate reports of shootings, but they all were false.

Police believe they put an end to the series of pranks on Tuesday with the arrest of Antonio Brothers, 18, a resident of the apartment complex.

He was charged with five counts of unlawful use of 911, a gross misdemeanor.

"It certainly draws manpower away from other calls," Lt. Cindy Galindo of Metro's northeast area command said of 911 abuse.

Brothers allegedly called 911 on Jan. 16 and said he had a gun and was going to start shooting people.

He allegedly called again, on Feb. 10, and said men in the parking lot were waving guns and called again moments later because he wanted police to hurry.

Officers arrived and searched the men and their car but found no guns. After his arrest Brothers admitted that he wanted to cause trouble for the men because they were playing loud music.

Two days later he called 911 and said his father had pulled a gun on his mother. Hours later, he called again and said he had shot and killed his wife and her boyfriend because they were having an affair.

When police would arrive at his apartment complex at 1001 Pecos Road, Brothers would look out the window and watch the officers arrive and investigate his reports, the police report says.

Patrol officers in the northeast area command were told Tuesday to watch for Brothers and given his description.

Officers spotted him outside his apartment complex and arrested him. When questioned by police Brothers admitted to making the calls as a prank.

He was being held this morning in Clark County Detention Center on $5,000 bail.

Metro's communications bureau doesn't keep statistics on how many false 911 calls it receives.