I'd like to nominate William Johnson (pictured above) for the Journal Record's 2015 "Innovator of the Year." Hopefully he'll be allowed to accept the award while in jail.
On Friday night, Johnson's Suburban was stolen from a Tulsa gas station. He then did what any smart person would do when their car is jacked and they want to find it. He called police, reported the crime, and, oh, kind of lied about a five-year-old kid being in the backseat, triggering a statewide Amber Alert and sending 60+ Tulsa police officers in search of the stolen vehicle.
What could go wrong with that?
Via News 9:
Tulsa Man Jailed For False Kidnapping Report That Launched Amber AlertPolice say Johnson called in the report after his custom-painted, purplish-blue 1990 Chevrolet Suburban was stolen from the BN Mart gas station just after 9 p.m.
He told officers his 5-year-old son was in the car, and a massive search was launched that led officers to a rural area west of Mounds.
Adams said authorities chased the suspects - who were at that time driving a stolen white truck - to Creek County where the men eventually crashed. Police had detained a woman passenger early Sunday and are believed to still be search for the men who reportedly stole Johnson's SUV.
Tulsa police at one point identified the man as John Williams, but Sergeant Adams said his name is William Johnson, who was arrested early Sunday morning on the false Amber Alert complaint.
His arrest report states a total of 67 Tulsa Police officers were deployed in the search. Tulsa County Sheriff's Office, Creek County Sheriff's Office, Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Kiefer Police Department and other agencies assisted TPD.
Court records show Johnson already faces four charges in Tulsa County stemming from an arrest August 30, 2014. He was driving his Suburban when he was pulled over for driving with a cracked windshield. Officers say he was smoking marijuana, had paraphernalia in the vehicle and a suspended license...
Yeah, leave it to a pot smoker to come up with this ingenious plan! I bet he got the bright idea one night when an Amber Alert went off while he was smoking a blunt in his living room with a couple of friends.
"Why's my phone alarm going off. What's that? An Amber Alert?"
"Yeah."
"They're texting my phone? How do you turn that off? Next time my car gets jacked I'm going to say my kid's in it. The police will look for it then!"
"Hell yeah they will. Hell yeah! That's crazy!"
"Pass me the Cheetos."
Okay, technically that may have been a conversation I had in my backyard following the OU game on Saturday night. I'm glad we have William to lead, set an example and prevent me from making a bad mistake.
For that, I hope William gets away with a slap on the wrist for this one. Was it wrong? Yes. Did we all learn a lesson from it? Probably.
Also, we should at least give William credit for saying his kid was in the car and not his dementia-suffering father. Had police issued a Silver Alert, nothing would have happened. Seriously, don't you feel sorry for the Silver Alert people? When an Amber Alert is issued, it gets everyone's attention. They cut into TV and radio broadcasts, send alerts to your cell phone, and even light the Warning Beacons of Gondor. When a Silver alert goes off, everyone just assumes the person stumbled into Braum's for ice cream.
