A homeless woman in Leesburg was arrested for making several unfounded calls to 911 for alleged threats to her life.
An officer responded to a threat complaint at 336 Sandy Oak Drive at around 8:57 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 7, according to an arrest report from the Leesburg Police Department. The complainant, 56-year-old Mary Ann Espy, stated there were threats made against her life but could not give dispatch any further information.
At that time, Espy called the complaint in on 911. An officer cleared the call with advice given due to Espy being mentally ill and there being no credibility to her claims, the report said.
At 9:31 p.m., another officer returned to the address after dispatch received another 911 call from Espy with the same complaint. She told dispatch she just knew things were going to happen to her. Again, the officer gave her advice about her claim, advice in reference to misuse of 911 and provided her with the non-emergency number for the Leesburg Police Dispatch, the report said.
A third officer responded to the address at 10:09 a.m. regarding threats to Espy’s life. She again used 911 to call the complaint in, even after being given the non-emergency number. In an attempt to end the calls and refrain from arresting Espy, the officer gave her a self-report and documented her concerns, the report said.
The report did not make sense, and there were no immediate concerns of threats to Espy’s life. The incident apparently had taken place two months prior. She was told to go back inside her residence and given advice on the misuse of 911 once more, the report said.
At 10:47 a.m., dispatch received another 911 call from Espy about the same complaint. Upon an officer’s arrival, her complaint did not change.
Espy was subsequently arrested on charge of make false 911 calls since the four calls did not warrant an immediate emergency. The Virginia native was transported to Lake County Jail and released after posting $1,000.