A homeless man has earned the distinction as perhaps the most prolific 911 caller in city history — waging a nearly nonstop campaign of harassment that included more than 4,100 phone calls since December, police sources said.
Jeffrey Shankley was finally arrested Wednesday after police found him lingering near Penn Station, one of his favorite spots to send emergency crews on wild goose chases.
The 53-year-old had been arrested 38 times since 1995, including on Nov. 19, 2015 when he allegedly reported a bomb in Penn Station. In that case, the NYPD’s bomb squad searched the building and found nothing, and Shankley got charged with aggravated harassment.
His epic calling spree began Dec. 20. Over the next two months, he used his cell phone 4,178 times to report threats, rant at operators and generally waste valuable time for a 911 call center that dispatches police, fire and ambulance crews to real emergencies citywide. That amounts to 70 calls a day on average.
Police in Midtown South made the arrest, then turned him over to cops in Brooklyn, where the call center is headquartered. He was charged with obstructing governmental administration, a misdemeanor.