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Teen Who Made Prank 911 Call Has History Of False Reports
By
Ben Muessig
Published Mar 1, 2010
Modified Mar 1, 2010
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By
Ben Muessig
Published Mar 1, 2010
Modified Mar 1, 2010
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The Queens teenager whose prank 911 call sparked allegations of racial profiling by New Jersey state police officers has a history of making false 911 calls. Three months before 19-year-old Rodney Tanzymore called police to falsely report that passengers in a van in which he was riding were carrying guns at a New Jersey Turnpike rest stop, he called cops in Queens to report that a man matching his own description was brandishing a firearm.
According to the Post, the St. Albans resident pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct after getting arrested in August for the first incident. He was sentenced to community service. In November, Tanzymore was returning from a trip to Howard University with participants in a social services organization when he reportedly called 911 on a cellphone that could only make emergency calls and used the name "David Smith" to file a false report. When police pulled over the van minutes later, officers thought they were responding to a "high risk" stop and drew their weapons on the students and chaperones.
Tanzymore's bail was set at $50,000, and he was forced to take a psychiatric evaluation due to his history of making false 911 calls.
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