This Time, Source of Dropped Calls Traced to a Local Home

You might think that people calling 911 to complain about disrupted WiFi and cell service would be filed away as nuisance calls. But as it turns out, authorities in Morgan Hill, California, had been having the same problem themselves for months—including with emergency communications. As a result, investigators took notice and used radio frequency testing equipment to zero in on the apparent source of the problem; they seized two heavy-duty signal jammers from a local home last week, reports the Morgan Hill Times. In fact, when officers were inside the residence, their police radios and cell phones stopped working. Once they disabled the jammers, everything was fine again.

So far, no arrests have been made, and the homeowner has not been identified or charged as police try to determine a motive. "I can't imagine a Joe Blow citizen having that equipment to be used for anything other than malicious intent," Morgan Hill Mayor Rich Constantine tells KTVU. The owner of the jammers could face charges if investigators find they prevented people from calling 911 or disrupted radio frequencies used for public safety. The latter at least seems like a distinct possibility, because representatives from emergency services throughout Santa Clara County—including the sheriff's office and the Morgan Hill police—say their radio signals had been affected. (More signal jamming stories.)