Springfield man charged for calling 9-1-1 two dozen times while out drinking

A Springfield man’s alleged abuse of the 9-1-1 system landed him in a Clark County courtroom.

Court documents say Frederick Campbell was out drinking at various places in Springfield. He called dispatchers nearly two dozen times on Wednesday when he never had an emergency.

During the calls, Campbell doesn’t make coherent sense and doesn’t give dispatchers direct answers.

“Who is you?,” he asks a dispatcher.

“This is dispatcher Repik,” the dispatcher replies.

“This ain’t a popularity contest — lives have been taken,” Campbell says.

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“You know, I’m trying to get an officer out to meet you for your problem,” the dispatcher says.

Campbell called 9-1-1 so many times that Clark County dispatchers immediately knew him by name when he called.

Dispatchers tried to call Campbell back several times to make sure he was okay, although many times he didn’t answer.

“You don’t need any other help though,” another dispatcher asks Campbell when he answered the phone.

“Well, not help like ‘come see me’ help,” Campbell replies before hanging up.

Two Clark County Sheriff’s Office officials eventually found Campbell at Rooster’s restaurant on Bechtle Avenue. He was very drunk, according to court documents.

“Upon entering the business, a white male wearing a white hat exited the business abruptly,” the court affidavit says. “(A deputy) then asked the subject in question if his name was Fred, and he advised, no, his name was Shawn Brumbaugh…. Mr. Fred Campbell was in possession of a cell phone which was possibly used to call 9-1-1 approximately 22 times this date.”

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Although these calls were handled by Clark County dispatchers, the City of Springfield dispatch center sees the problem as well.

City of Springfield Community Information Coordinator Valerie Lough said many of the non-emergency calls the dispatch center receives are accidental.

“It’s rare that those calls rise to the level of a criminal matter,” she said.

She said it’s only about twice a year that someone purposely abuses the system, but the abuse is taken seriously when it happens.

“When do we get a case of someone is clearly abusing the system, the 911 call. We do refer to law enforcement when need be,” Lough said.

Campbell pleaded not guilty to the charges filed against him in Clark County Municipal Court on Thursday. Disrupting a public service is a fourth-degree felony that carries a potential penalty of up to 18 months in jail and/or a $5,000 fine.

Campbell was also charged with falsification for giving deputies a fake name when they stopped him at Rooster’s. His bond for the two charges totaled $3,500.

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