This story ran in the West Side Journal, but it made us giggle just enough that we decided to share it on Lights and Sirens too.

Ernestine Romero's first alleged attempt to call in a bomb threat to Metropolitan Court hit some bumps. Despite her efforts to hide her number, a dispatcher called back.

But according to a criminal complaint, Romero, 26, was undeterred and called again.

She was allegedly calling in the bomb threats because her boyfriend Joseph Quintana had a court appearance scheduled for 9 a.m. Monday. Quintana, 29, had failed to appear in court on a traffic violation and feared he would be sentenced to jail if he went to court, according to the complaint. So he asked her to call in a bomb threat at Metropolitan Court so he wouldn't have to go.

According to the complaint, Romero initially was concerned that dispatchers would trace her number, but Quintana told her to dial star-67. That usually hides a person's phone number on caller ID - unless you're calling 911.

She agreed to the plan and called 911, telling the dispatcher "I'm calling to report a bomb threat at the Metropolitan Courthouse," then hung up. Despite her precautions, a dispatcher immediately called her back and left a message.

That's when Quintana called his girlfriend to report that the courthouse hadn't been evacuated and she would need to call again, according to the complaint.

This time, he said, she would need to amp up her game.

"He told her this time not to say there was a threat, she needed to state that there was a bomb in the court house," a police officer wrote in the complaint.

Romero allegedly made the second call and became frightened after dispatchers called her back again.

Police traced the phone number to her West Side home and confronted Romero, who initially said an unknown woman had used her phone but later admitted to calling in the threats, according to the complaint.

When police confronted Quintana, he told them he was "shocked" and that Romero was lying. Both were arrested.

Romero was charged with two counts of calling in a false bomb report. Quintana was charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit a fourth-degree felony.

Quintana was being held Wednesday without bond at the Metropolitan Detention Center because of unrelated charges and a probation violation.

Romero was released on her own recognizance.