On August 8, 2022, officers from the St. Petersburg Police Department (SPPD) arrested 50 year-old Carla Jefferson of St. Petersburg on charges of making Harassing Phone Calls. This was her second arrest under very similar circumstances.
Jefferson was previously arrested on June 30, 2022 on similar charges including that of misuse of wireless 911 system. At that time, in response to a 911 call, officers arrived to her home and attempted to make contact with Jefferson. Upon their arrival, she yelled obscenities at officers each time they responded to her calls for service. According to court documents, she would retreat into the home and through a window give the officers a middle finger while refusing to exit the home. In addition, she would tell officers to get off her property. Many times she would do this while still on the phone with the communication center.
On May 14, 2022, Jefferson received a certified letter informing her that her further abuse of the SPPD phone number would result in criminal enforcement against her. The calls continued after her receipt of the letter. On May 16th, she called 163 times, 406 calls on May 30th and 134 calls on June 17th. Many of these calls are described as vulgar, threatening or obscene. They included statements such as “hang up and I will call you back.” Many calls contained extreme expletives, sexual innuendo and belittling remarks to the communication staff.
Jefferson was released from the Pinellas County Jail on $400 bail hours after her arrest.
Her most recent arrest stemmed from over 500 phone calls in a 24 hours period starting at 4:30 p.m. on July 2, 2022. During these calls, she continually harasses, belittles, swears at, argues with, and demands officers come arrest her. In one of the phone calls just prior to her arrest, she stated that “she loves playing this game.”
According to the arrest documentation she called the St. Petersburg Police Department Communication Centers in excess of 11,000 times so far in 2022.
She was booked into the Pinellas County Jail on August 8, 2022 and released on her own recognizance on August 9, 2022.