Man Programming Phone Calls 911, So Police Come to Call; 3 Arrested
A man programming his phone to speed-dial 911 was arrested when sheriff’s deputies responded to his call--and found the man and two friends on drugs, authorities said Friday.
Sheriff’s Lt. Dan Martini said it happened about 5 p.m. Thursday, when someone calling 911 quickly hung up.
“When we get one of those we go ahead and investigate,” Martini said.
Return calls to the number by sheriff’s personnel failed to get an answer, so deputies went to the address in the 29000 block of Niguel Road shown on their computer. When they arrived, resident Mark Jason Sanger let them in.
What deputies found, Martini said, was that Sanger and two others appeared to have and to be under the influence of crystal methamphetamine, or “speed.” Deputies said they also found drug paraphernalia in the apartment.
Along with Sanger, 33, deputies arrested David Michael Mather, 27, of Laguna Niguel and Linda Christina Lyons, 22, of Costa Mesa.
Martini said that when deputies told Sanger why they were there, he said he had been trying to program his portable phone so he could dial faster in an emergency.
“That was my fault,” Martini quoted Sanger. “I was dialing it, trying to punch it into my phone.”
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