NEWPORT, Ore. -- A Newport teen is in custody after allegedly making nearly two dozen crank calls to 911 dispatchers in Lincoln County.

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The calls were received between 4:19 a.m. and 5:49 a.m. from a male using his cell phone to make rude comments about the police. The man said he was calling from "the beach."

Dispatchers summoned police, who began listening in on the calls, advising the man that what he was doing was illegal, said Sgt. Jason Malloy of the Newport Police Department.

The caller challenged Newport police officers Jerry Howe and T.J. Eriksen to find him. The two officers recognized the voice as belonging to a man they had contact with earlier in their shift. They went to the home of Cody Prescott Smith, 19, and he was taken into custody at 5:49 a.m., four minutes after making what would prove to be his last call.

Smith was charged with 22 counts of improper use of 911.