By Matt Troutman
The Record-Eagle
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Dozens upon dozens of unfounded 911 calls over the past month are being pinned on a Kingsley man who told authorities “drunken boredom” and a wistful desire to once again be a part of emergency services spurred him to dial.
Grand Traverse County sheriff’s Capt. Randy Fewless said the man, 25, placed his last call Thursday evening from Cherrywood mobile home park. He said deputies arrested the man on suspicion of misuse of 911 after they traced that call -- and scores more -- to his mobile home.
“He indicated his justification was ‘drunken boredom,’” Fewless said.
The arrest wraps an ongoing problem for deputies.
Fewless said a suspect made 106 calls from Cherrywood mobile home park from Jan. 11 to Feb. 2. He said the caller didn’t say anything until Thursday, when deputies finally stopped responding and driving out to the park.
“They chose to not respond initially and prompted this guy to up the ante, if you will,” he said.
“When the individual did not get a police response, that’s when he escalated his response by laboring his breathing,” he said.
Fewless said 911 operators pinpointed the calls to an area around 6900 Cherrywood Drive. He said several deputies drove to the park, knocked on doors, and finally entered the man’s home, based on what they said was a call that indicated he’d been hurt and needed help.
The deputies conducted a warrant search and found six of seven phones used to call 911 in the past month, in addition to a handheld police scanner, Fewless said. The man eventually admitted he made the calls.
Fewless said the man told deputies he’d been drunk, bored and missed being part of “it” -- work in emergency services. He said the man had an emergency services tattoo on his forearm and claimed to have been a volunteer firefighter, but a police report doesn’t state which department he may have worked with.
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©2015 The Record-Eagle (Traverse City, Mich.)