QUEENS — After months of harassing neighbors, the FDNY and the NYPD, Kenneth Campbell was arrested Wednesday for making false alarm calls to his apartment building, fire officials said.
Campbell, 47, was arrested by fire marshals for making 36 false alarm calls in February and March from his building at 82-24 135th St. in Kew Gardens, FDNY said.
“I applaud the investigative work of our Fire Marshals to track down and apprehend the individual responsible for these malicious and dangerous fictitious incidents,” Fire Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro said in a statement released Thursday.
The false calls included bomb scares, gas leaks, electrical fires and emergency medical assistance, the FDNY said. The Fire Department said that many of these fake incidents prompted responses from multiple departments, including FDNY, NYPD and utility companies.
Investigators were tipped off to Campbell thanks to the countless number of calls requesting assistance to the same location, according to FDNY spokesman Frank Dwyer.
“Reporting a false alarm is a senseless crime which deliberately wastes Department resources and needlessly puts the lives of New Yorkers and FDNY members at risk,” said Nigro.
Officials also believe Campbell made "over a hundred calls" to people living in his apartment building, according to Dwyer.
Campbell had not been arraigned as of 5 p.m. Thursday, but he is expected to face charges of making terroristic threats, falsely reporting an incident and aggravated harassment, fire officials said.
