[August 16, 2011] The Game's Tweet Causes Sheriff's Phone System Meltdown Tweet Aug 15, 2011 (KTLA-TV - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- A tweet Friday afternoon sent by rapper The Game led to hundreds of phone calls to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, overwhelming the agency's phone system, officials say. Just after 5:23 p.m., callers began flooding the Compton Sheriff's station with calls asking about a music internship. Investigators traced the call back to The Game's Twitter account, which promised an internship and offered phone numbers fans could call. Those phone numbers led callers to the Compton Sheriff's station, officials say. The sheer number of callers shut down the phone system. "These needless phone calls interfered with the ability of sheriff's desk personnel to answer the business line phones and 9-1-1 calls, and for dispatchers to send help to people who really needed it," Captain Mike Parker, wrote in a prepared statement. "We don't know how many people needed help but couldn't get through the overwhelmed phone lines." At first, deputies thought there was a malfunction in the department's phone system. They later learned that the callers were prompted by a message on The Game's Twitter account. The rapper, whose real name is Jayceon Terrell Taylor, posted the internship offer on his twitter account at 5:23 p.m. -- the moment calls began flooding the Sheriff's Department's phone system. By 7 p.m., deputies had figured out where the calls were coming from. Parker used his own Twitter account to message The Game directly, asking him to remove the tweet with the internship offer, saying he was compromising public safety. The Game did not respond to Parker's message, Sheriff's officials said. "By about 8 p.m. the calls tapered off to the point that desk deputies and dispatchers could handle the call volume without impeding public safety," Parker said. The Game posted a follow-up tweet the next day: "Yall can track a tweet down but cant solve murders ! Dat was an accident but maybe now yall can actually do yall job !!!! #iSpeak4ThePeople," The Game tweeted August 12th. The Game's representatives later issued a statement saying his Twitter account had been hacked. But he could still face charges as a result of the incident. Deputies will submit a criminal complaint to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, according to a Sheriff's Department news release. The complaint will urge prosecutors to pursue charges of obstructing police officers, making harassing phone calls and the knowing disruption of communications, according to the news release. To see more of KTLA-TV, go to http://www.ktla.com/. Copyright (c) 2011, KTLA-TV, Los Angeles Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]