Rialto man arrested for harassing Sheriff's Department with over 7,000 spam calls

San Bernardino deputies arrested a Rialto man after he allegedly flooded the department with thousands of spam calls in a nearly four-month span. 

The spam calls started on April 2023 and continued until July 21. In that time, Luke Edward Dumas called the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department about 7,000 times, according to investigators. Assuming this started on April 1, breaks down to more than 60 calls every day over about 110 days.

The department described the constant calls as "annoying" and "harassing" and prevented staff from quickly attending to other legitimate emergency calls. SBSD believes he is connected to other spam call schemes targeted at emergency services throughout the Inland Empire. 

Dumas has been booked for annoying and harassing calls to emergency lines, public nuisance, interfering with emergency services, resisting and delaying an officer and reckless driving. 

"The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department emergency phone systems are to be used in cases of emergency only, and abuse of any phone systems will be taken seriously as it prohibits law enforcement from performing their duties," the department wrote in the statement. "Spam calling law enforcement's emergency phone systems and normal business phone systems could expose the public to prolonged wait times and further risk of danger."

Because investigators believe he may have done this to other agencies in the Inland Empire, they have urged anyone with information to call Detective A. Hylin at (909) 387-3727. 

Those wishing to stay anonymous can call the We-Tip Hotline at 1-800-782-7463 or submit their tips at their website.