SALEM -- A man making a fake 9-1-1 call in an effort to divert a police officer from writing his friend a speeding ticket got caught in the act and ended up in the slammer himself, Salem police said.

kgw.com/Marion County Sheriff's Office

Jermiah Burgess (left) and Rex Strauss were arrested in the alleged 9-1-1 hoax.

Not only did the suspect make a phony 9-1-1 call, he did it right in front of a police officer, and the dispatch center got it all on tape, according to authorities.

It unfolded Monday morning when officer TJ Kistner and his partner were patrolling in Northeast Salem, searching for a robbery suspect, and they spotted a suspicious-looking car.

“I see this car and I stop it for a signal violation,” Kistner explained.

He said Jermiah Burgess, 27, was behind the wheel and Rex Strauss, 25, was in the passenger seat, talking on his cell phone.

;   Listen to 9-1-1 call

Moments later, Kistner heard dispatchers send two officers to a report of a stabbing just a block away.

“I need to report a knife, a knife fight,” a man could be heard telling the dispatcher in the 9-1-1 call.

But there’s someone else talking in the background, too. The dispatcher realizes it’s a cop asking for identification.

“So I’m monitoring that [9-1-1 call] trying to decide if I need to abort this traffic stop,” Kistner said. And then, “I just start laughing because I can tell the guy I have in the right front passenger seat is making a fake call.”

Police said Strauss was reporting the fake stabbing just to get out of the traffic stop. But his ploy didn’t work.

The plan to get free landed Strauss and Burgess behind bars after Kistner discovered the hoax and then discovered an assortment of stolen checks in the car.

Both men were arrested for identity theft and Strauss was also cited for improper use of 9-1-1.

Police said they expect both will be making some future phone calls from inside a prison.

(KGW reporter Keely Chalmers and kgw.com reporter Teresa Bell contributed to this article.)