A Man Was Arrested After Butt Dialing '911' While Discussing A Burglary

USA Today- Police were able to solve a burglary after they traced a 911 “butt-dial” call to Somerset County dispatchers, who heard people talking about a burglary. Scott Esser, 42, of Elizabeth, is in the Somerset County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail following his arrest Wednesday.

According to Somerset County Prosecutor Geoffrey Soriano, the county communications center on July 27 received what appeared to them to be an errant open-line telephone call, commonly called a “butt-dial.” Dispatchers heard male voices discussing a burglary but were unsure of the caller’s location, Soriano said.

Later that evening, police responded to a burglary at a Branchburg residence. Police found that $1,355 in jewelry was stolen, Soriano said.

The cellphone company told investigators that the phone from which the errant call was made to the communications center had recently been assigned to Esser, the prosecutor said.

On Wednesday, detectives from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Burglary Task Force set up surveillance of Esser as he drove a silver Toyota Camry from Elizabeth to Stafford Township in Ocean County. Detectives followed Esser to a home in Stafford but lost sight of him when he got out of the car, Soriano said. After he got back into the car and left the area, detectives went to the house and discovered it had been burglarized, Soriano said. State Police stopped Esser on the Garden State Parkway, where he was arrested by Somerset County detectives.

The Camry was towed to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Forensic Lab, where detectives found miscellaneous pieces of jewelry, electronic devices, a Playstation 4 gaming system, a .38-caliber handgun, U.S. bonds worth approximately $11,300 and burglary tools, Soriano said.




Shoutout to my hometown and birth place, Branchburg, New Jersey, for coming in hot with a story of unbridled negligence. Nothing like the use of some good, old fashioned home invasions to put us in the national spotlight! No publicity is bad publicity, as they say. The Burg just showing that even upper middle class white people can be morally corrupt criminals too.

I almost, ALMOST, want to feel bad for the guy. Butt dials are the worst. It's always to a family member that talks too much, or an ex-love interest who you swore you would never speak to again. Pretty much when you butt dial a person you can just assume that you are going to butt dial the worst possible person in your phone. For instance, how many times have you butt dialed the local pizza joint that you got delivery from the night before? Exactly. Smart phones just know somehow. They know which people you want to talk to the least, and I am pretty sure it's just Siri's way of having some fun at our expense. Always hated that bitch.

Like I said, I wanted to feel bad for this guy, but I simply can't do it. Sure, a butt dial can happen to anyone, but a butt dial to '911' can only happen to someone that has previously been in contact with '911'. You don't just happen to sit on your phone and hit the worst possible sequence of numbers. That's why I am not on this guy's side. You want to call '911' when you have a problem? You should, that's what they are there for. You want to be a professional burglar? As long as you stay away from my place then have at it. However, you can't do both at the same time. You can't be the scumbag that steals other people's shit, AND the person that needs the help of the authorities. Well, technically, I guess you can, but you just shouldn't be surprised when you end up butt dialing '911' while you are in the middle of discussing the nuances of your upcoming felony. That's just the Universe correcting itself. Couldn't happen to a "better" person than the guy that goes out of his way to endanger the lives of others, while also using services that are reserved for people who are being endangered. This guy tried to play both sides of the fence, and he ended up getting a stake directly in his ass while sitting on top of it. That should give him a good idea of what lies ahead in his immediate future.