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Fate Of Disgruntled Williamsburg Resident Who Made Over 400 Phony 911 Calls About Hipsters In Hands Of Jury
By
Ben Yakas
Published Aug 20, 2014
Modified Aug 20, 2014
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Aug 20, 2014
Modified Aug 20, 2014
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Last year, a middle-aged lifelong Williamsburg resident was arrested after police determined he had made over 400 phony complaint calls to 911 about the hipster hordes running amok in his neighborhood. Louis Segna, 53, was charged with reckless endangerment, aggravated harassment and making false reports for 403 prank calls he allegedly made to cops. He's been on trial this month, and his fate is now in the hands of the jury—and he better hope that there are no purple pants-wearing jurors.
"These are not calls that are frivolous," said defense attorney William Fowlkes, who admitted his client had made at least four of the anonymous allegedly false calls to 911 in the fall and winter of 2012. During those calls, Segna claimed he had seen or heard an explosion in the subway, a man with a gun, shots fired and someone who menaced him with a knife. Fowlkes argued that Segna was very inspired by the NYPD's slogan ("if you see something, say something") and felt he was aiding law enforcement.
Prosecutors, however, pointed out that all those calls turned out to be unfounded, and Segna never identified himself during any of the many calls he made. "He was just making them to manipulate the city’s emergency response system," prosecutor Linda Hristova told jurors. "Defendant didn't see anything so he shouldn’t have said anything."
Segna was caught after Deputy Inspector Terence Hurson listened to two false 911 calls about gunshots and gang fights in winter 2013, and recognized Segna's voice from his frequent complaints during community-precinct meetings: “I could just tell it was him. I’ve spoken to him about a dozen times, mostly noise-related,” he said.
Segna, who lives on North 7th Street just above the Swedish coffee shop Konditori, previously was arrested for having homemade explosive devices and a rifle at his apartment in the early '90s.
Fowlkes tried one other philosophical defense strategy, basically arguing that anything that can happen could have happened (which is like a poor man's variation of Murphy's Law). "Different people hear different things...If he could have heard what he said he heard — he’s not guilty,” Fowlkes said. "The only reason we’re here is because some police officers and firefighters decided they were unfounded." Which...is exactly what police officers and firefighters are paid to do.
Tagged
bedford avenue
brooklyn
complaints
hipsters
louis segna
police
williamsburg
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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