Officials use fast food to apprehend 4-year-old who repeatedly dialed 911

CARPENTERSVILLE, Ill. – Authorities tracked down a 4-year-old girl who called 911 287 times in June by offering to deliver McDonald’s to her suburban Chicago apartment.

Unbeknownst to her mother, the girl used a deactivated cell phone to call 911.

Dispatchers heard the child’s voice but could only track the phone’s signal to the apartment complex. So authorities used a ruse to pinpoint her

“We talked with her and we convinced her if she told us where she lives, we would bring her McDonald’s,” Steve Cordes, executive director of QuadCom’s emergency center, said. “She finally gave us her address. So we sent the police over – with no McDonald’s.”

After police arrived, the girl’s mother took away the phone, Cordes said. Under federal law, deactivated cell phones still must be able to access 911. Many deactivated phones will contact an emergency call center if the user holds down the nine key

Detroit employee sues city, alleging that perfume kept her from working

DETROIT – An employee in the Detroit planning department who claims she is severely sensitive to perfumes and other cosmetics has sued the city, saying a co-worker’s strong fragrance prohibits her from working.

Susan McBride’s lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Detroit, says the work environment is in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. She wants a ban on such scents at work – and unspecified damages. City spokesman Matt Allen declined to comment, telling The Detroit News the city does not normally comment on litigation or personnel issues

McBride, who joined the planning department in 2000, says problems started a year ago when the co-worker, who isn’t identified in the lawsuit, transferred into her department.

“This employee not only wore a strong scent, but also plugged in a scented room deodorizer,” the lawsuit states. “Ms. McBride was overcome by the smell almost instantly, causing her to go home sick.”

The co-worker later agreed to stop using the plug-in room deodorizer, but kept using perfume, the lawsuit states.

From Associated Press reports