Spring Valley
A Spring Valley man convicted of jamming five San Diego Police Department radio channels was sentenced Wednesday to six months in jail and fined $5,000.
James Earl Fike, 32, was sentenced by U. S. District Magistrate Roger McKee, who allowed him to remain free on $10,000 bail while he appeals the misdemeanor conviction.
The motive for the incidents, which occurred over several months earlier this year, is unknown, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Patrick Coughlin.
“It created a dangerous situation in the fact that officers were trying to be in communication with one another,” said Coughlin.
“To actually communicate on the system, you have to know something about the system. It’s really only somebody with extensive communications radio knowledge that can do it,” he said.
Fike was found guilty July 13 of operating on a radio channel without a license.
An agent of the Federal Communications Commission said the police channels were interrupted by squealing and howling sounds.
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