Phone taking on a life of its own, touch screen issues

[droidannoyed]

This morning my phone literally came to life. I was reading through the Google News app when different links would highlight & open up in my browser, start scrolling up & down, zooming in & out, & then the touch keys in the middle of the screen (t, y, f, g, h, c, v, b, & space bar) would all start typing themselves in to the search bar at the top of the screen. My phone was connected to the wall charger when this started, so I immediately unplugged it & everything stopped. About half an hour later different apps on my home screen would open up, & eventually different home screens would appear on my phone (small clocks, big clocks, slide to unlock, you name it). Now I have to take the battery out of my phone to end a call, the center of the touch screen is completely unresponsive. I have to use the slide-out keyboard to type, & I can't get to any of my other apps since that button is in the bottom center of the screen. I'm extremely annoyed. Is my only option to sit in line for an hour at a Verizon store & have them take my phone away for a few days, or is there some kind of reset thing I can type in that won't erase everything?