Ohio judge finds South Carolina man guilty of making 7,347 harassing, expletive filled calls to local police

STEUBENVILLE, Ohio ( WTRF ) — A South Carolina man has been found guilty of 21 counts of disrupting public services in Steubenville, Ohio.

According to media partner Herald-Star , 50-year-old Samuel Vance Hall, of Carlisle, SC, was found guilty in the Jefferson County Common Pleas Court on Tuesday after placing 7,347 “profanity-laced” calls to City Police in two months.

Judge Joseph Bruzzes found Hall guilty after a day-long trial and will issue a sentence on Wednesday.

Herald-Star reports Hall waived his right to trial by jury.

Prosecutor Jane Hanlin commented to the news outlet that Hall’s harassment toward the City Police was never about a protest, and “t here is no First Amendment right to interrupt, disrupt or impair the operations of the Steubenville Police Department.”

Hanlin said Hall’s actions prevented the dispatchers and police officers from keeping the community safe.

According to Herald-Star, from Nov. 11, 2022, through Jan. 10, 2023, Hall tied up police phone lines with thousands of “harassing and threatening” calls, “ sometimes between 100 and 500 a day” laced with obscenities and derogatory terms of address.

Authorities reported that Hall referred to the officers and dispatchers in calls using racially and ethnically disparaging terms, taunting them, stating, “You’re going to know my name for the rest of your (expletive) life because you’re never going to forget how many times I called you (expletive-expletive) and you didn’t do a (expletive) thing about it. Understand that. Understand that you (expletive-expletive expletive) of (expletive).”

In a hand-written motion to dismiss his indictment, Herald-Star reports that Hall argued that his actions were protected speech, that the calls “are acts covered under the protection and immunities of the United States Constitution First Amendment Free speech and Assembly clauses.”

Steubenville Police Chief Ken Anderson tells the news outlet he was “very pleased” with the verdict.

He commented that he is proud of the entire department and that the dispatchers endured two months of constant harassment in an already difficult and stressful environment.

He says that it shows how committed the dispatchers are to their profession, the department, and the community.

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