WATERVILLE — A Waterville man was arrested Sunday morning and charged with making a series of aggressive and “nonsensical” calls to the Kennebec County emergency 911 service.

Damien J. Staples, of 7 Carrean St., was arrested at 7:30 a.m. on Sherwin Street and charged with misuse of the E-911 system, a class E offense.

Staples called 911 at least seven times from a cellphone and yelled angrily at dispatchers, according to Waterville Deputy Chief Charles Rumsey. Staples was ranting and did not have a coherent complaint to report, Rumsey said.

Although Staples didn’t provide his address, the Kennebec County regional communication center in Augusta was able to track the calls using GPS and pinpointed a rough area around Water Street as being the calls’ point of origin, Rumsey said.

Officers encountered Staples, who is 6 feet 8 inches tall and weighs 238 pounds, in the area and tried to talk with him, but Staples wouldn’t admit making the calls or even speak to officers, according to Rumsey.

The officers gave Staples a warning, but shortly after leaving he made another 911 call, in view of the officers, Rumsey said. The dispatch center was able to confirm that they had received another call from the area, and the officers “put two and two together,” Rumsey said, calling the calls “nonsensical.”

“Unfortunately, we felt that an arrest was the only way we could prevent him from taking up the time of 911 operators,” Rumsey said.

It isn’t uncommon for people to mistakenly dial 911, but chronic misuse of the type of Staples is accused is rare, he added.

Staples was unable to pay $50 bail Sunday and was taken to the Kennebec County Jail in Augusta.

He is scheduled for arraignment May 5 in Waterville District Court. The maximum penalty for a class E offense is six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.