By BETH GADDIS
TBO.com

GULFPORT – A 14-year-old is in jail after dialing a wrong number.

Police say the teenager mistakenly called a Gulfport detective and offered to sell him drugs.

Detective Matt Parks said he was at home Sunday night when he received a strange call.  He said the caller asked for a name Parks did not recognize, but when Parks told him he had the wrong number, the caller did not just hang up.

Parks said instead, the caller asked the detective if he wanted to buy some drugs.

Parks said he made arrangements to meet the dealer in the parking lot of the nearby Hamilton Disston School to purchase an ounce of marijuana and some crack cocaine.  The dealer said he would be there in ten minutes in a blue Monte Carlo, according to a news release.  Parks then called the police and arranged to have on-duty patrol officers meet the suspect.

The teenager was arrested for possession of 18 grams of marijuana with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school.  The driver of the car, Michael Araba, 22, was arrested as a principal, as well as for driving with a suspended license.

Detective Parks’ phone number is unlisted, and there were no similar phone numbers found in the suspect’s cell phone, according to the Gulfport police.  Detectives said it appeared as though the suspect just dialed a random number to try to drum up new business.

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