The late comedian George Carlin famously said, “Think how stupid the average person is, and half of them are stupider.” One man proved Carlin right last week by making a series of goofy moves in a single phone call.
On February 19, an unidentified man threatened to blow up the landmark Hollywood sign if he didn’t receive “just” $10,000, according to TMZ.
This act raises a series of questions about what this man is thinking (assuming he engages in any real thinking).
First question: One, why dial the police with a bomb threat? You are being charged with a serious crime and asking to lose your freedom completely.
Second: Why ask for $10,000? The Hollywood sign was sold in 2005 for $450,400.
The sign went up over Los Angeles at a cost of $21,000.
Here’s the kicker, though: not only did this guy call the police with a bomb threat unless he received a ransom, he dialed the wrong police department.
A fool called Hollywood, Florida. It is a city on the eastern side of the Florida peninsula, about 10 miles south of Ft. Lauderdale and about 20 miles north of Miami.
While mixing up places with the same name is somewhat understandable, Hollywood’s biggest offering in California doesn’t have its own police department. It is under the LAPD.
Furthermore, Hollywood is not a real city but a neighborhood of Los Angeles.
The Hollywood, Florida Police Department then alerted the LAPD to notify them of the bomb threat. It was later determined that the threat was a complete hoax and no arrests were made.
The man should consider himself lucky not only to have avoided bomb threat charges, but also that stupidity is not a crime. If the latter, he may be looking at life behind bars.
