He had a dispute with a neighbor, Florida cops say. Then came ‘multiple’ 911 calls
A Central Florida man was arrested after continuously calling 911 over two days for non-emergency reasons, authorities say.
According to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, last Monday deputies responded to a home in Summerfield, about an hour northwest of Orlando, to investigate a dispute between two neighbors.
READ MORE: Florida cops responded to a 911 call, then they looked in the closet
They made contact with the 56-year-old suspect, who “tried ordering them to conduct the investigation as he demanded,” according to a sheriff’s post on Facebook.
While law enforcement was still on the scene, the man called 911.
The deputies warned the suspect that if he did so again, he could be arrested. They also told him that if he had concerns he wanted to address with a supervisor, he should call the sheriff‘s non-emergency number, which they offered to write down, but he said he knew already.
READ MORE: Florida woman called 911 because she wanted a ride, police say
About an hour after they left, the deputies said the man ignored them, and kept phoning 911 “multiple times” over the next two days.
During one of the exchanges, the man reportedly told the operator, “You want to charge me with abuse of 911? Go for it!”
On yet another conversation with dispatch, he said, “I’m gonna keep calling 911 back! You can charge me all you want!”
Deputies did indeed charge him — with eight counts of misuse of 911.
He was taken into custody at his residence, transported to the Marion County Jail and held on $8,000 bond.
“These calls had the effect of potentially taking emergency call-takers away from answering calls from persons who were in actual need of emergency services,” the Marion County Sheriff’s Office reported.
This story was originally published October 2, 2023 at 12:00 PM.
