Spring Valley
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A 32-year-old Spring Valley man was convicted Wednesday morning of jamming five San Diego Police Department radio channels for about a month.
James Earl Fike, a former employee of KSON-FM, was found guilty by U.S. Magistrate Roger C. McKee for jamming police frequencies at various times from about Jan. 19 to Feb. 16 this year. Using a technique called feedback, Fike interrupted police channels by jamming them with squealing and howling sounds, said William Grigsby, an agent with the Federal Communications Commission in San Diego.
“We consider what he did a very serious matter,” said Grigsby. “He sometimes jammed police channels over 30 minutes, threatening the lives of officers in the field--they were unable to communicate with other officers to coordinate movements.”
Fike is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 31. He could be sentenced to a maximum of year and fine up to $100,000.
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