A son was arrested with his gal pal after placing a bogus burglary call to law enforcement from his mother’s home.
Wildwood police were called in the wee hours of Saturday morning to a home in Lakeside Landings when a woman called 911 and claimed there were three men trying to break in at the back door of a home on Admiral Way.
When officers arrived on the scene and approached the front door of the residence, they saw 32-year-old Ronald Brendan Gallaher, of Ocala, who was armed with a machete, according to an arrest report from the Wildwood Police Department. He told police he would not let them in without a warrant.
Gallaher claimed his mother had called 911, but he also told police she was out of the country. Dispatch retrieved a phone number for Gallaher’s mother, but when the number was called, it was Gallaher who answered the phone.
Fearful that Gallaher’s mother could be in danger, police entered the home. They found 36-year-old Catherine Ann McKinney, of St. Augustine, hiding in the closet of the master bedroom. She admitted she had called 911 and pretended to be Gallaher’s mother.
Gallaher and McKinney were both arrested on charges of misusing 911. Both were booked at the Sumter County Detention Center. Bond was set at $500 each.