Man who made 249 calls to 911 in a year charged by Hamilton police

A Hamilton man who phoned 911 249 times over the past year has been charged by police with providing false information.

The chronic 911 caller was charged after police say their dispatchers received six calls from him on single day earlier this weekbetween 3:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m.

Officials say after placing each call the 33-year-old man would stay silent, then hang up.

On Jan. 17, around 8:30 a.m. officers visited a Hunter Street address to check on the caller's wellbeing. Police say they could hear someone walking around inside the home, but the man did not open the door for more than an hour after they arrived.

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Investigators learned the man had made 249 calls to 911 since January 2018 and that he had been warned to stop dialling the emergency number in August 2018. Still, he continued to call without a "reasonable explanation."

Police are reminding the public that non-emergency calls to 911 take upvaluable resources and could delay a response to someone who is actually in danger.

"If you have called 911 accidentally, it's important to stay on the line to speak to an operator to explain the error," according to a media release. "Every 911 call is taken seriously, so explaining the mistake will eliminate the need for the emergency operator to call back. It is also important to ensure allcell phonesare locked to avoid accidentally calling 911."