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Woman arrested for making multiple 911 calls

Monday, June 2, 2008 10:27 PM CDT

BENTON - A Benton woman's propensity to call 911 landed her - and her husband - in Franklin County Jail over the weekend.

Tabitha A. Utley Artis, 27, was arrested early Saturday morning for disorderly conduct after allegedly making several 911 calls despite a lack of what police would deem an emergency need, Benton Police Chief Mike O'Neill said.

Artis first called 911 at about 1:45 a.m., complaining that her husband left the residence, taking the keys to her car with him. The emergency telecommunicator explained to Artis that her complaint did not qualify as an emergency and ended the call, O'Neill said.

A short time later, police received another 911 call, this time from a neighbor, who reported a disturbance outside Artis' home on Benton's east side.

When police arrived at the house, they found Artis and her husband, Shawn Artis, 27, fighting in the backyard, O'Neill said.

When officers did a computer check on Shawn Artis, they discovered he was wanted by Jefferson County authorities for a probation violation.

He was taken into custody and delivered to the jail.

About an hour later, Artis began calling 911 again, this time complaining that police had taken her husband to jail and demanding to know the reason why, O'Neill said.

She made three 911 calls within 25 minutes, he said, disrupting a dispatch center that was already overwhelmed by calls reporting a weather-related power outage in the city, and by alarms going off at businesses that had lost power.

After the third call, officers went back to Artis' house and arrested her for disorderly conduct. She was taken to Franklin County Jail.

- Becky Malkovich