Weird story. I wonder what the cops were thinking. And how did the dispatcher even send it out to the cops. Me thinks the ex-husband must know somebody in the city or in the police department. Otherwise, this would have been dismissed before it ever made to the cops on the street. Somebody pulled some strings to make this happen.
Also, all the mom had to do was to call the cell phone provider and cancel her daughter's service. You can cancel the service temporarily and then there is no need to keep the phone hidden somewhere.
You can't get arrested for not paying for something you don't want.