Suspects Arrested After Accidentally Calling 911 During Crime

FRESNO – Two 20-year-old men accidentally called 911 from one of their cell phones while in the middle of a robbery.

Nathan Teklemariam, 20

Fresno residents Carson Rinehart and Nathan Teklemariam were planning out how they were going to rob a vehicle around 11:30 p.m. on May 9. Unfortunately for these two criminals, one of them accidentally called 911. The dispatcher on the other end of the line only had to listen for a minute to realize they were intending to commit a crime, Fresno police said.

The dispatcher sent a patrol unit out to the location, and continued to listen to the suspects’ conversation. At one point one of the suspects said, “I just want to smoke weed so bad right now,” according to the transcript of the call.

They also spoke about getting “a bolt and hammer just in case,” presumably in their discussion on how they were going to break into the car. The dispatcher heard glass break, which allegedly was due to the suspects breaking into a vehicle through its window.

Carson Rinehart, 20

The suspects discussed their plan to park their own car far away from the vehicle they had just broken into and come back to collect the rest of the items inside. However, police arrived at the scene and were soon on their trail. The dispatcher listened as the two men realized the police were behind them. “He’s right (expletive) behind me, dude,” one of them said, followed by “Oh, he’s following me Dog!” and “Wow what did I do?” according to the call.

Once officers were able to pull over and confront the suspects, they denied that they had any involvement in the robbery. One of the suspects lied about how he had cut his hand, police said.

One of the officers told the shocked suspects that they had accidentally called 911. The suspect who wasn’t responsible for the call responded by saying, “This fool really called 911? Damn,” according to the transcript.

The officer took possession of the phone and was the one to actually end the call with the dispatcher. Stolen goods, including prescription medications and socket keys, were recovered from the suspects’ vehicle.

Rinehard and Teklemariam were booked into Fresno County Jail on suspicion of burglary, conspiracy to commit a crime and possession of stolen property.

Read More:

Los Angeles Times: Robbers arrested after pocket-dialing 911 during crime, police say

Huffington Post: Nathan Teklematiam, Carson Rinehart Butt-Dial 911 While Breaking Into Car

New York Daily News: Burglars busted after butt-dialing 911, bragging in their boondoggle