Former candidate for county board charged with making annoying 911 calls
After failing to appear in court for his misdemeanor arraignment Wednesday, Kern County Superior Court issued a warrant to arrest a former candidate for the 5th District Board of Supervisors seat who was charged with misusing the 911 emergency line.
David Abbasi, 45, was charged Tuesday with making annoying 911 calls and repeated calls to a residence with the intent to annoy or harass, which are misdemeanors.
He was arrested on suspicion of making annoying 911 calls by the Kern County Sheriff’s Office twice in the same week on April 24 and 29 in the 2100 block of Edison Highway. For his arrests, he was cited and released, according to KCSO’s public information officer Lori Meza.
In an email sent to The Californian on Thursday, Abbasi called the charges “absolutely absurd.”
“I never called anybody’s residence. I called 911 for help after being attacked and needed to be hospitalized,” Abbasi wrote. He referred to himself as a whistleblower who has exposed wrongdoing, and wrote that when you are, “you get wrongfully arrested and charged.”
This is not Abbasi’s first time being charged with misdemeanors. In 2017, he was charged with operating a marijuana dispensary but the charge was dismissed in 2020.
In 2019, Abbasi spent four days in jail after pleading no contest to carrying a concealed firearm in public. Charges for carrying a loaded firearm and exhibiting a firearm were dismissed.
Following his failure to appear for his arraignment, Abbasi is ordered to either turn himself in or he will be arrested again before the court sets new court dates.
Abbasi came in fourth in votes for the 5th District supervisorial seat in the March race.