Man arrested for calling 911 emergency number over 100 times

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — A man who called 911 more than 100 times was arrested in Eugene on Tuesday for misusing the emergency number.

Avery Boniface of Eugene, began calling the Eugene Police Department non-emergency number at about 3 a.m. Monday, KEZI-TV reported.

He called the number approximately 350 times that morning, police said. Police went to his residence but he didn’t answer the door.

He began calling 911 Tuesday for no apparent reason, placing about 150 calls between midnight and 6 a.m., according to police.

Police said Boniface, 23, was advised repeatedly about the misuse of 911, but continued to call and was abusive towards call takers.

Police officers went to his apartment and tried to talk to him but he refused and continued calling 911, police said. A crisis negotiation team then tried to talk with Boniface, but police say that was unsuccessful.

Boniface had also been asking for the return of previously surrendered firearms, police said. Because of the potential safety concern, law enforcement served a search warrant and deployed pepper balls to arrest him, police said.

He was taken to Lane County Jail on suspicion of misuse of 911 and contempt of court for violating a release agreement. It wasn’t immediately known if Boniface has a lawyer to speak on his behalf.