Uniontown man charged with prank calls
Police captured a Uniontown man who allegedly made multiple prank calls to Fayette County 911 for several months and also is wanted in Ohio for allegedly stealing a vehicle. Uniontown police Capt. David J. Rutter said Richard Crossland of 335 Evans St. was charged before Magisterial District Judge Michael M. Metros with four counts each of false alarms to public safety agencies and fictitious reports, two counts of recklessly endangering another person and a single count of criminal mischief.
Rutter said the charges were filed after several months of police investigation into a spate of prank calls made to Fayette County 911, reporting everything from a shooting to a hostage situation.
According to Rutter, 911 officials received the first call from Crossland on Nov. 4 when he reported a domestic dispute involving a gun at a residence on Millview Street. Crossland told 911 dispatchers that his name was “Ronald Hopps” when he reported the supposed incident from a cell phone based in Cleveland, Ohio.
Rutter said that when officers arrived at the home, they were unable to make contact with anyone and did not see any signs of a domestic disturbance.
Two weeks later, Rutter said Crossland called 911 again, this time with a cell phone purchased at store in South Union Township.
Rutter said this time Crossland reported that their had been a shooting at a bar on North Gallatin Avenue and that a man had been shot multiple times.
When police arrived at the location, they were unable to find any evidence that a shooting had occurred and deemed the call bogus.
Then, at 12:31 a.m. Jan. 1, Crossland, identifying himself as “Wayne Hopps” telephoned 911 again and reported that a man was holding multiple people at gunpoint inside a residence on Connellsville Street.
Rutter said officers tactically entered the home and briefly detained a man found inside before determining that the call was another hoax.
The final call police said Crossland made to 911 was reported at 1:58 a.m. Saturday when Crossland, calling himself “Ronald Hopps” reported that he had accidentally shot his wife at a residence on Evans Street and needed help.
Rutter said when police arrived, they couldn’t reach anyone inside the residence, so they “forcibly entered the residence because of the exigent circumstances.”
Once inside and upon talking with the residents, the call was determined to be another prank.
Rutter said he worked in conjunction with Verizon Wireless to track down phone records and also acted on several tips and was able to identify Crossland as a suspect.
Rutter said he responded to a restaurant on Route 40 in South Union Township where Crossland was employed and immediately recognized him as a wanted person out of Ohio from police records.
He was taken into custody and found in possession of two cell phones matching those used in the prank calls, Rutter reported.
He noted that police also found that the car Crossland had at the restaurant had been reported stolen out of Ohio.
“We want the criminals to realize that they are not going to get away with things like this,” Rutter said.
“We often have the ability to track these types of things down and we will do so to ensure the protection of city residents.”
Crossland told police that he made one of the calls to try and cause trouble for a neighbor and that the others were simply for fun, Rutter said.
Crossland was placed in the Fayette County Prison on $65,000 combined straight cash bond following his arraignment Tuesday.
A preliminary hearing will be held at a later date before Metros.