Lang
9/21/25
A wanted suspect is accused of calling 9-1-1 to his Coralville apartment under false pretenses so firefighters could retrieve his cat.
Coralville Police say 33-year-old Willie Collins called the Coralville Fire Department to his 21st Avenue Place apartment just after 7:30 Saturday night, claiming smoke and flames were coming from his building. Arriving crews found no fire, and Collins reportedly admitted to lying about the blaze because otherwise the fire department would not have shown up to get his cat.
Collins was arrested for Making a False Report to 9-1-1. He reportedly physically resisted arrest, and a charge of Interference With Official Acts was added.
If convicted on both counts, Collins faces a maximum of 60 days in jail.
Collins was also wanted for failing to appear at a court date last Monday on a 2nd Degree Theft charge. He’s accused of stealing a bicycle from the bike racks outside the University Of Iowa College Of Public Health on North Riverside Drive.
Collins was given a seven-day jail sentence after reportedly fighting with police after a 9-1-1 call to his apartment in April during which he claimed he was speaking with the sun.