403 Phony 911 Calls Lead To Brooklyn Man’s Arrest

A Brooklyn man who allegedly made 403 phony 911 calls has been arrested, and police say the suspect has a history of lodging over-hyped or entirely fake complaints to emergency responders due to frustration he had over street noise.

According to police, when 51-year-old Louis Segna’s 911 habit was finally uncovered, he had made the alleged 403 phony 911 calls in just a two year span — which, of course, amounts to one every two or three days.

The 403 phony 911 calls allegedly made by Segna ranged in severity of report, from a boisterous gathering allegedly occurring in the vicinity of his Brooklyn apartment to a claim that there was an explosion at an L-train station — a call police say was based on an entirely false premise:

“Many of the calls were about unruly crowds, but some were more serious, such as a Sept. 1 call that there was an explosion inside the L-train subway line that connects Brooklyn and Manhattan. Police raced to the scene and found nothing wrong.”

After police patched together Segna’s alleged history of making phony 911 calls, he was arrested Friday and charged with false reporting and reckless endangerment.

The Wall Street Journal quotes New York Police Department Deputy Inspector Terence Hurson, who says that he became suspicious of Segna’s calls and began investigating last week — leading to the 403 phony 911 calls discovery. The Journal explains:

“Hurson said he started to wonder, and listened to the two from Dec. 30.”

“He said he immediately knew it was Segna because they had spoken about a dozen times and the man has a distinctive voice. Hurson said Segna speaks slowly and has a bit of a speech impediment.”

The paper says that when confronted about the alleged 403 phony 911 calls, Segna told NYPD officers it was “the only way” he could get them to respond to his noise complaints.