Woman Calls 911 Seeking A Ride

Velanica Ellis, 29, wanted to get out of Land O’ Lakes.

So she called 911 at around 3 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 29, and told a Pasco’s Sheriff’s Office dispatcher she wanted a ride to Polk County.

When deputies arrived at her home on Gulfwind Drive, Ellis told them she and a man had been arguing more than once recently. Ellis had asked for a ride to her mother’s home in Lakeland. The man refused to give it.

The man said that Ellis’ call to the sheriff’s office woke him up. He said he told her he couldn’t drive her because he needed to go to work.

Ellis told a deputy she had drunk a lot of Natural Ice or “Natty Ice” throughout the night, according to the report.

A deputy asked Ellis why she called the sheriff’s office instead of a taxi cab.

“I don’t know,” she told the deputy, according to an incident report. “Because I’m drunk.”

When asked what 911 was for, she said “yes”  and mouthed, but did not speak the word “emergencies,” according to the report.

She was arrested on a charge of misusing the 911 system and then later released after making $150 bond.