South Huron resident facing mischief charges for calling 911 multiple times

Emergency and urgency, dialing 911 on smartphone screen. (releon8211/Getty Images)

A South Huron resident is facing mischief charges after a series of emergency calls to police last weekend.

According to OPP, at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 8, police were contacted to investigate several 911 calls by someone misusing the emergency line.

Police spoke to the individual responsible, and arrested them shortly afterward for public mischief.

The accused resisted arrest, and assaulted OPP officers. Police say that a 44-year-old from South Huron is facing charges of public mischief, three counts of assault of a peace officer, and resisting a peace officer.

When a 911 call is lost, it’s called a “dropped 911” and is automatically referred to police to investigate.

All 911 calls, including dropped 911s, are treated as if they are life-threatening emergencies.

The police are then tasked with locating the source of the 911 call and determining if there is, in fact, an emergency. Depending on several factors, police can spend hours searching for someone who called 911 by accident and hung up on the officer.

It can be a massive waste of police resources, and some reports suggest that as many as 25 per cent of calls to police are pocket dials, or 911 hangups.

If you call 911 by accident, remain on the line and be honest about the mistake - it can be a massive time saver for emergency responders.

- with files from CTV Northern Ontario’s Drew McMillin, CTV Northern Ontario’s Eric Taschner