by PA2 Diana Honings (USCG) Temporary Denial of Service 911 hoax calls plague our nation’s first responder agencies. Hospitals, police and fire departments, and other public service entities are continually vulnerable to bomb threats, active shooter situations, and general false emergency claims. Similarly, there is a growing hoax call problem on the Channel 16 maritime … [Read more...]
Bomb Threat Shuts Down Lithuanian FSRU
VILNIUS, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Gas supply from Lithuania's liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal was interrupted on Wednesday due to a bomb threat that later turned out to be a hoax, the terminal's operator Klaipedos Nafta said on Wednesday. The terminal is now preparing to restart, a spokeswoman said. The floating terminal, leased from Norway's Hoegh LNG , was opened … [Read more...]
Coast Guard Seeks Serial Hoax Caller in Puget Sound Area
The U.S. Coast Guard is seeking the public’s help in identifying a hoax caller that made multiple false distress calls earlier this month in the Puget Sound area and leading to lengthy and very expensive searches. The first call come at 11p.m on May 31 when Vessel Traffic Services in Seattle received a Mayday call on Channel 14 from a man reporting that five people were … [Read more...]
False Distress Call Costs Ohio Man 3 Months, $500,000 in Restitution
An Ohio man has been sentenced to three months in federal custody and ordered to pay $489,007 in restitution after for making a false distress call that caused a massive search on Lake Erie, the U.S. Guard and attorney's office for the Northern District of Ohio have announced. Danik Shiv Kumar, 21, of Sandusky, Ohio, pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of making a … [Read more...]
Ex-Coast Guardsman Sentenced for Hoax Distress Call
We report about hoax distress calls all too often and hopefully this case sends the message that such calls, in any capacity, are no joke. The U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Attorney Office said this week that Shane Coxon, a 24 year old ex-Coast Guardsman, was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington for knowingly making a false distress call … [Read more...]