Mar 24, 2010 10:22 pm US/Central

Reporting
Kristyn Hartman

NAPERVILLE, Ill. (CBS) 

 

Carly A. Houston
Naperville Police Dept. 

She was arrested after allegedly threatening her cab driver and refusing to pay. But when a Chicago area woman was offered a phone call – after she was booked – the number she dialed got her into even more trouble. CBS 2's Kristyn Hartman reports, the number Carly Houston dialed was 911.

Here's a transcription of the call:

Operator: "Naperville 911, how may I help you?"

Houston: "Hi. I am in, like, I'm trapped in, like, the Naperville 911. So…."

Operator: "You're trapped where?"

Houston: "In the Naperville 911. So…"

After that exchange, Houston, who was in the Naperville detention center, dropped off the line. Her name is Carly Houston.

"And she doesn't want to talk to you," said her mother, who withheld her name.

But she did speak with us about the early March morning her daughter ended up in police custody. She says Houston had been celebrating a friend's 30th birthday.

Police say she was intoxicated when they caught up with Houston at a Naperville gas station. They also say she and her cab driver were at odds.

Naperville Police Sgt. Gregg Bell said, "She was being disruptive, unruly, a little combative."

So they arrested her, brought her to lock up and let her make some calls. That's when they say she dialed 911.

"We'd like to get the message across to people that it is not a game when you dial 911," said Bell.

Houston's mom says it was no joke. She described her daughter's ordeal.

"She was terrified. She didn't know where she was. No one would come and help her," said her mother.

She claims Houston reached out for help the only way she knew how, and now, "It's just one more thing to drag her down."

Another crisis that seemingly involved alcohol.

Five years ago, Houston went with her boyfriend to a Cubs rooftop party. He was intoxicated, fell off a narrow CTA platform and died.

A year after the tragedy, Houston told CBS 2, "I couldn't believe it. In a split second, I lost him."

"It's not something you get over," said her mother.

That tough personal situation doesn't change the current case. Houston has been charged with – among other things – making a false 911 call.