One Southwest Florida businessman accused of misusing 911

Texting 911 instead of calling can make a huge difference during emergency situations. But, whatever the method, misusing 911 can waste lifesaving resources.

Melanie Bailey is the Public Safety Communications Manager for the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office. “We get a variety of calls anywhere from medical to accidents with injuries,” Bailey said.

Charlotte County 911 dispatchers can also receive emergency text messages. Early Friday morning, they received 35 of them with a worrying tone. Some read “I am having a breakdown,” “USA having a breakdown,” and “Nuclear attack imminent.”

“They’re trying to find out where their location was, what exactly was going on,” said Bailey.

They did pinpoint the texter’s location eventually, which placed them near the Punta Gorda and Charlotte County border. Both Charlotte County Sheriff’s and Punta Gorda Police Officers responded to the texts trying to find the sender.

“It didn’t take long to realize that the texter was not really needing help necessarily, they became more of a harassment,” Bailey said.

When deputies finally found Karoly Golarits near the intersection of Jones Loop and Taylor Road. He showed deputies the string of texts that matched the ones sent to dispatch.

Bailey warns what could have happened at a high traffic time. “Had this been during the daytime, someone else who was maybe having a heart attack, their call may not have been answered quite as quickly,” she said.

So, Golarits was arrested. He is now facing charges of misusing the 911 system. A system that was designed to help you during emergencies.

“Don’t be afraid to call 911 when you were truly having an emergency. That’s what we are here for,” Bailey said. But dispatchers are not there to be harassed.

The misuse of 911 is a misdemeanor in the first degree, carrying a $1,000 fine and possible jail time.

Golarits is out of jail on bond. WINK News reached out to him for comment but he has not yet gotten back to us