*677 Not Compatable With 911

     In response to several recent emails, Mason County Sheriff Wayne Youell is wanting to notify Mason County residents that regardless of what you have read, dialing *677 on your cellular telephone will not connect you to the police.

     There are several variations to the story that has been circulated by email throughout Mason County, but essentially all of the written accounts describe a situation of a lady who is traveling alone on a remote road at night and notices the flashing red lights of what appears to be an unmarked police car behind her. Believing she has done nothing wrong to require a traffic stop, the lady telephones *677 on her cellular telephone and immediately connects with the police. The story continues by stating that after the woman makes contact with the police by using this series of characters, she reports her circumstances and is quickly told by the police that the person who is behind her is not actually a police officer. The police inform the woman to stay on the telephone and continue driving. A short time later, the police surround the person in the car, who is trying to stop the woman, and the imposter, usually revealed to be a convicted rapist, is arrested.

     “This story cannot be confirmed and after researching *677, I learned that this series of characters only seems to work from cellular telephones in Ontario Canada to make contact with the Provincial Police,” said Sheriff Youell. “When I called the Ontario Canada Provincial Police Department to confirm their *677 cellular telephone feature, three of their own officers didn’t realize *677 was available until they took time to investigate my inquiry.”

     Sheriff Youell advises Mason County residents to use 9-1-1 from any telephone in an emergency and reminds residents that 9-1-1 called from any pay telephone is always free.