One Free Phone Call – 1984
Decades ago, living in Los Angeles, on my way to rehearsal of my first TV show, I ran into ‘Lloyd’ and his fiance Alice. I hadn’t seen them since college a few years before; we exchanged numbers. After the show aired I started getting obscene phone calls between midnight and 1AM. This went on for months. A trace was put on my phone after I filed a police report. The offending caller was arrested; the Police asked me if I knew Lloyd – my old classmate. Lloyd called me to tell me it wasn’t him – his ‘guest’ from Canada had been my caller. I immediately recognized his voice as that which tormented me for months. His trying to convince me it wasn’t him was witness tampering; a felony. Had my first full blown panic attack, ended up in emergency thinking I was having a stroke. He called me from the San Fernando Valley – from area code 818 to 213; every time he called it showed up on his phone bill.
He had no choice but to plead. Probation, fine, public service, and counseling. I got panic attacks. Today I found him on Facebook, blocked him.