Volunteer charged over hoax crash call
A volunteer ambulance officer could face jail time and a bill running into thousands of dollars after he allegedly made a hoax emergency 000 call and then helped with the search for a fake crash scene at the weekend.
About 4.30pm on Sunday an emergency call was made to St John Ambulance regarding a crash just west of Collie in which was person was trapped inside the car.
Police, volunteer firefighters and St John Ambulance crews were sent to the crash scene but were unable to locate it.
A police helicopter as well as the RAC Rescue chopper were also dispatched.
Authorities were unable to locate any crash scene or emergency situation.
An investigation by Collie Police was undertaken and police will allege the emergency call was made by a volunteer St John Ambulance member, who helped with the subsequent emergency response and search for the crash scene.
A 39-year-old Collie man has been charged with creating false belief and is due to appear in Collie Magistrate's Court on August 14.
A request to recover costs incurred by the emergency services teams, including the police helicopter will be made to the court.
Conservative estimates for the search put that figure at $5000.
The man faces a potential imprisonment term of at least 12 months and an additional fine of $12,000.
