Police: Road rage report was false

A reported road rage incident late Tuesday morning turned out to be a false report, Fulton Police Maj. Roger Rice said.

A truck pulling a boat was reported to be weaving in and out of traffic, cutting off other cars and wreaking havoc on U.S. 54, Rice said. The person reporting the incident said he was traveling north from Jefferson City across the Missouri River Bridge, which is under construction.

However, the person who reported the mishap was a man familiar to police and is a regular caller with a history of false reports, according to Rice. The accusation was not confirmed by law officials, he added.

"We were not able to confirm anything. The other guy was probably more of a victim than the guy who reported it," said Rice. "(The accuser) doesn't like it when somebody passes him. He's a strange individual."

According to Rice, police officials nationwide often receive calls that turn out to be false. Fulton is no exception to the trend, he said, and often calls are made by individuals suffering from mental illnesses.

"We have about a dozen people who are regulars that call. Every town has a group of people that call on a regular basis," he said. "These are the kind of things that (police officers) have to deal with."

As part of officers' training, they learn how to deal with scenarios involving mentally ill individuals.

"Our guys recently went through some training with the (state) Department of Health on how to recognize disorders," Rice said. "It's pretty good training because you learn a lot about people that help things make sense."

As part of a focus on helping the mentally ill, the Fulton Police Department has someone from the Missouri Department of Mental Health come in weekly to assess specific cases, Rice said.

"The mental health coordinator comes in every Wednesday," he said. "If we have a situation involving mental health issues, those officers meet with her."

No matter what the caller's mental state, Fulton officers still try their best to help, Rice said.

"We had a lady several years ago whom we had over 95 calls from, and you have to go and you have to talk to her," he said.

Rice said patience is key when dealing with any situation.

"We do the best we can. Generally, we want the families to deal with (the mentally ill individual). We're trained how to deal with these people but we are not psychiatrists," he said. "There's a lot of people out there that need help."