Verizon to cops: we won't help you track down sick, possibly dying man unless you pay his $20 phone bill

Posted by Cory Doctorow

 

A 62-year-old man had a mental breakdown and ran off iafter grabbing several bottles of pills from his house. The cops asked Verizon to help trace the man using his cellphone, but Verizon refused, saying that they couldn't turn on his phone because he had an unpaid $20 bill. After an 11-hour search (during which time the sheriff's department was trying to figure out how to pay the bill), the man was found, unconscious.

Two K-9 units, several fire departments and 100 individuals on foot also were involved in the search for the man, who Sheriff Dale Williams said fled his residence on Kensington Rd. after a domestic disturbance call to deputies...

Williams said he attempted to use the man's cell phone signal to locate him, but the man was behind on his phone bill and the Verizon operator refused to connect the signal unless the sheriff's department agreed to pay the overdue bill. After some disagreement, Williams agreed to pay $20 on the phone bill in order to find the man. But deputies discovered the man just as Williams was preparing to make arrangements for the payment.

Unconscious Carroll man found after 11-hour search

 

http://www.boingboing.net/2009/05/22/verizon-to-cops-we-w.html