West Boca Woman Charged With Repeated Misuse of 911 Services

Julie Towbin (Photo: Palm Beach County Jail)

A 32-year-old West Boca woman has been charged with misuse of the county’s 911 system after allegedly making repeated calls and texts to the system without a valid emergency.

Julie Towbin, 32, was charged Feb. 25 with misusing the system after Palm Beach County Sheriff’s deputies said she was warned several times against doing so. According to a police report, Towbin is alleged to have made four calls or texts to the emergency number, drawing a police response, when there was no emergency to speak of.

In the first incident, Towbin allegedly called to “request assistance with financial transactions,” though deputies still had to respond to her residence. In the second, she is alleged to have called stating that she wanted a service animal and was upset that she did not have one. After this call, she was “explicitly warned” about misuse of the system, the report said. A short time later, a third incident involved a text message being sent to 911 by Towbin, allegedly asking whether texting 911 would “still count” as a violation of the use of the 911 system, at which point deputies told her it would. Finally, on the fourth alleged call, Towbin called and said she needed police assistance, but deputies found no emergency when they arrived at her home.

Towbin was charged with misuse of 911 services, and was released from the Palm Beach County Jail after posting $1,000 bail.