Thomas Butt

Thomas A. Butt, 57, dialed the emergency line that night to report that two men were raping a woman behind the Bank of America on U.S. 1.

When Martin County Sheriff’s deputies arrived, they didn’t find anyone except Butt, who was crouching down behind some bushes, according to a sheriff’s report. Butt told deputies the attackers were by a telephone pole but deputies said they found no one there.

Dispatchers told the deputies that Butt had called two other times that night to make false reports. In one call, he reported a burglary in progress but when deputies investigated they found that it wasn’t true, the report states. But also called to report a disabled vehicle on Interstate 95 that might be blocking the road.

Butt faces charges of making a false report using 911, loitering and resisting arrest.