PHOTO: Campbell allegedly placed several calls to 911 reporting bombs on his apartment building’s rooftop. Photo Courtesy of Google
By Forum Staff
A Briarwood man has been charged with making terroristic threats after he allegedly called 911 more than 30 times to report false emergencies.
“In more than 30 instances, emergency responders rushed to the defendant’s apartment building, resulting in both a waste of time and resources. The false calls could have also put lives at risk by preventing firefighters and other rescuers from responding to real emergencies,” said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
Kenneth Campbell, 47, was arraigned last Thursday night on a criminal complaint charging him with five counts of making a terroristic threat, 20 counts of second-degree falsely reporting an incident and nine counts of third-degree falsely reporting an incident. Campbell was held on $20,000 bail and ordered to return to court on April 7. If convicted, he faces up to seven years in prison.
According to the criminal charges, between February 12, 2016, and March 16, Campbell allegedly placed more than 30 calls anonymously to 911, citing the odor of gas, the smell of smoke and electrical emergencies. He is also alleged to have reported various emergencies, such as elderly people falling with head injuries or unable to get back up, someone having a heart attack and a pregnant woman going into labor.
On March 9, Campbell allegedly placed five calls anonymously to 911 reporting bombs on his apartment building’s rooftop, a threat to throw bombs from the building onto police and fire officials, and to having a bomb strapped to his own body.
Furthermore, Brown said, Campbell allegedly admitted to making the series of false 911 calls and stated that he did so because “My uncle is verbally abusive to me and the sound of sirens calms him down.” Campbell added that he would change the sound of his voice when making the calls and used other people’s phones as well as a nearby payphone.
