Police in central New York State have arrested a man and charged him with interfering with emergency radio channels by transmitting false statements over equipment he was unauthorized to use,

Local media reports said police stopped Chad Potter of Sherburne, New York, on the 31st of March while he was driving in a vehicle equipped with a number of radios tuned to frequencies where, according to police, he has been disrupting emergency services.

A report on WBNG/News 12 said that an investigation into the reported radio interference dates back to 2021. Police said that fire, EMS and law-enforcement operations were disrupted several times by his messages. The WBNG news report described one transmission as [quote[ "shots fired, shots fired" [endquote] - which reportedly caused concern and confusion among first-responders and the public.

On the day Potter was arrested on the radio-related charges, city police had pulled him over in relation to a traffic stop. Investigators said his vehicle was equipped with aftermarket lighting that made it look like he was an emergency-responder. Police issued citation to him for the lighting.