Tess Sheets

Treasure Coast Newspapers

STUART — A crabby incident led to the arrest of a Stuart man Monday, when police say he misused the emergency 911 line, calling dispatchers twice to complain about the size of his meal at a local seafood restaurant.

"He was complaining that the clams he was eating were so small. He didn't want to pay for them," said Sgt. Brian Bossio, police spokesman.

Nelson Agosto, 51, persisted in ordering the seafood meal at Crabby's Seafood Shack on South Federal Highway despite an employee warning of its size, according to an incident report. When he complained to the restaurant upon receiving his meal, they gave him another order of clams on the house, an employee told police.

More:Man charged with theft of meat from Vero Beach restaurant

In a 911 call released by the police department, Agosto told the dispatcher, "I ordered something, and it was extremely so small."

The dispatcher advised Agosto to call the non-emergency police line and relayed the phone number twice to the irked customer.

Not long after, Agosto called 911 again — and again, the dispatcher told him to call the non-emergency line.

"I tried that, but I couldn't get through," he said in the second call.

When police made contact with Agosto, he told them he called 911 twice because he forgot the non-emergency phone number after the first call.

More:Resident of 'Born Free Nation' is free no longer

Agosto was arrested by summons on a misdemeanor charge of misuse of 911, police said.

"It was an arrest, but the officer did not take the guy to jail," Bossio said.

Agosto's next court date is scheduled for Jan. 11.