Tampa man arrested for making over 1,200 false 911 calls - WFLA-TV Newschannel 8

Tampa man arrested for making over 1,200 false 911 calls

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TAMPA, FL -

A Tampa man is accused of making more than 1,200 non-emergency calls to 911 in less than two-months. Hillsborough County Sheriff's deputies said Jason Honaker, 38, used an unregistered cell phone to make all the calls.

"It taxes us," said Hillsborough Sheriff's Lt. Darrin Barlow. "It's unnecessary. It's outrageous."

The phone wasn't in service with a phone company. By law, all cell phones must still be able to dial 911. Barlow said the majority of calls Honaker placed were silent. He did talk and make up fake emergencies at least 19 times, according to Barlow.

"We had to treat every one of those calls as if it was truly an emergency," said Sheriff's spokesperson Cristal Bermudez Nunez.

Honaker told a dispatcher someone was chasing him with a knife in one recording released by the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office Thursday.

"You better put the knife down, I'm telling you right now," Honaker said on the recording.

Barlow said the calls were all traced to a cell phone tower near Massaro Blvd. and Tampa E. Blvd. Undercover detectives were eventually able to pinpoint Honaker as the caller. They said he placed all of the calls on weekdays from the printing business where he works on Tampa E. Blvd.

Jackie Honacker said her husband is a good, hardworking man who made a huge mistake. She said she didn't know about the bogus calls until he was arrested Wednesday. He told her he found the phone on the side of the road.

Jason Honaker is now charged with seven felonies for making false 911 calls. Barlow said more charges could follow.

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