BEIJING, CHINA - DECEMBER 29: Dispatchers handle emergency calls at the control room of Chaoyang District Emergency Rescue Center on December 29, 2022 in Beijing, China. Hospitals in Beijing stepped up efforts to improve reception capacity to ensure the treatment of critically ill patients due to the increase of COVID-19 infectious patients. (Photo by Zhao Wenyu/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)
Whew! An Ohio woman has entered her plea after racking up charges for making nearly 400 calls to 911. Turns out, the calls were for “nonexistent emergencies.” In response, the Muskingum County Prosecutor’s Office hit Kesha Kennedy with felony and misdemeanor charges.
She was charged with one felony count of disrupting public services, one felony count of making false alarms, and 25 counts of misdemeanor misuse of 911 systems.
Prosecutor Ron Welch released a press statement about the case on July 15. In it, he revealed the Zanesville resident pleaded guilty during a July 12 court hearing with Judge Mark C. Fleegle.
Welch’s press statement accuses Kesha Kennedy of “using local first responders for her personal entertainment.” The 34-year-old allegedly rode to the hospital in an ambulance over 300 times! Moreover, taxpayers’ coins funded those pointless rides, given Kesha footed the bill using Medicaid.
“Obviously, some type of check or balance needs to exist so that this type of abuse is more quickly reported by EMS to law enforcement because 350 pointless ambulance runs is absolutely ridiculous,” Assistant MC Prosecutor John Litle said.
Litle said his office began an investigation after South Zanesville Police Chief Mark Ross brought the “serial 911 abuse” to their attention.
Kesha Kennedy first started playing on the phones’ of local 911 operators in 2020. Every time she rang their line, she complained of an illness. Her 911 calls led to responses from the South Zanesville Fire Department (SZFD) and other emergency responders.
Her non-emergencies prevented others “experiencing actual emergencies” from being served, per the press release. In one instance, SZFD responders were unable to reach a man who couldn’t breathe in time because they were handling one of Kennedy’s fake calls. The man later died.
“In another case, SZFD was understaffed for a fire due to personnel attending to Kennedy,” the statement said. “Kennedy called 911 multiple times every week, sometimes calling for first responders several times on a single day.”
Meanwhile, Genesis Hospital staff repeatedly told Kesha Kennedy that she had no medical issues or emergencies to address. Like the ambulance rides, Medicaid also paid for each visit.
Ahead of her guilty plea, a forensic psychologist evaluated the 34-year-old. Additionally, they summarized that she has a “factitious disorder,” meaning she’s a chronic liar, per prosecutor Litle.
She’s expected to be sentenced at a later date. It’s unclear if the judge will take Kennedy’s past of abusing 911 calls into consideration.
The press statement revealed that she was charged and found guilty in 2023 for issuing the 911 system in Licking County, Ohio. In one August incident, she pretended to lose her ability to stand or walk while at Licking Memorial Hospital. She then pretended to pass out after emergency responders helped her into a sitting position on a bench.
When officers spoke to her after she fake woke up, she claimed to be disabled and unable to understand her Miranda rights. After speaking to hospital staff, police confirmed she was not disabled and did not need medical treatment.
