Man, 47, begs for arrest, gets wish

PLANT CITY-- Peiter Vanvliet desperately wanted to be arrested. Problem was, the 47-year-old hadn't done anything wrong -- until he began harassing authorities and asking them to send him to jail.

According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, Vanvliet, of 560 Joe King Road, repeatedly called 911 from a pay phone on Monday night to inform deputies there was a warrant for his arrest and that he would wait for them to come and arrest him.

Yet there was no warrant. Vanvliet wasn't wanted for any crime -- except that his repeated calls prompted deputies to charge him with misuse the 911 system. He was arrested.

-- Thomas Kaplan, Times staff writer

[Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office]