Man charged with spamming Hazel Park police phone line

HAZEL PARK — After allegedly making more than 150 phone calls to the dispatch line of Hazel Park police, a Roseville man has been charged with violating a local ordinance that prohibits harassing phone calls.

The suspect is Dwayne Dye, 52, who was arraigned on the charges Aug. 4 in Hazel Park 43rd District Court. Telephone harassment is a misdemeanor offense, for which Dye could face up to 93 days in jail and a $500 fine if convicted.

At press time, Dye did not have an attorney on record with the court. He had been released on a $150 bond, on the condition that he has no contact with city employees, and that he stays away from Hazel Park City Hall and the Hazel Park Police Department.

Brian Buchholz, the police chief of Hazel Park, believes that Dye was upset over an incident that occurred July 17, when Dye was pulled over by police while he was driving on Eight Mile Road in the area of Dequindre Road.

During that encounter, police had been concerned that Dye may have been behaving erratically due to a medical issue, Buchholz said. EMS was called to the scene, but Dye declined medical attention, according to Buchholz.

He was released shortly after that incident, but police said that Dye continued to bear a grudge and began calling the dispatch line over and over again, insulting and disrupting dispatchers.

He also reportedly began a campaign that included flyers pinned to vehicles in the parking lot at City Hall, as well as dropped off in mailboxes at homes, making accusations against the police, the city manager and the city attorney, Buchholz said.

Buchholz said that the Roseville Police Department was similarly targeted by Dye back in 2014, when Dye was arrested and released for another incident, after which he reportedly sent fax messages to several communities in Macomb County, with accusations against Roseville police.

Buchholz said he empathizes with the frustrations people sometimes feel after an encounter with law enforcement, but he stressed that his department has limited resources for fielding calls, and spam calls can interfere with his department’s ability to efficiently respond to emergencies.

“I understand that people are going to be upset with the police for a number of reasons, but calling and harassing the dispatch center by calling over 150 times is not the solution,” Buchholz said via email. “There is a complaint process, or if it’s over a traffic violation, you set up a court date.

“Calling over and over, and playing music or saying vile insults to the command staff, is not going to help,” he said. “It tied up the phone lines, and it was hard to hear what was going on in dispatch with the constant phones ringing.”