Florida man accused of making hoax 911 call for ride to Hooters

June 9 (UPI) -- Police in Florida said they arrested a man this week for allegedly making a hoax 911 call about an ailing grandmother in order to get a free ride to Hooters.

The Orlando Sentinel reports the Brevard County Sheriff's Office said Jonathan Clayton Hinkle, 28, called 911 on March 5, saying he urgently needed a ride to the Merritt Island Hooters, where he said his grandmother had suffered a stroke in the parking lot.

Deputies spent three hours searching for Hinkle's grandmother, who turned out not to be at Hooters at all. Investigators spoke with the woman, Gayle Strickland, 79, and she told them she had called Hinkle earlier to ask him to pick up his belongings from the residence where she is staying.

Hinkle was located at a Burger King, where deputies found him helping his girlfriend with a vehicle problem.

"The grandmother wasn't in any kind of distress, she was contacted and he had made phone calls to 911, which you simply cannot misuse the system like that," Assistant State Attorney Gary Beatty told WESH-TV.

Hinkle was arrested Tuesday night and charged with a felony count of misuse of 911. He was released Wednesday night.