Firefighter Admits To Making Bogus 911 Calls
A New York firefighter admits he made bogus 911 calls in order to facility grand larceny and burglary.
Firefighter, Joseph Keene, is facing felony charges for making fake 911 calls. Keene allegedly did so in order to pillage the empty firehouses for cash and valuables.
The firefighter stole from firehouses in Queens and Staten Island. As the respective firemen responded to the bogus calls, 34-year-old Keene would take the time to rob his hardworking brethren.
Keene made at least three 911 calls from May to June, reporting nonexistent fire emergencies. Two of the fake calls made reported the presence of gas while the third reported a sparking transformer.
The crime spree began on May 29 with a 911 call reporting a gasoline spell from the corner of Forrest and Veltman Avenues,on Staten Island. Ladder 83 reported to the scene, where it was determined the alert had been unfounded. While on duty, Keene entered the firehouse and stole small sums of cash.
The call was later traced to a phone registered to Keene, made near the Ladder 83/Engine 163 firehouse, reports the New York Daily News.
Another call was made on June 2, reporting a sparking transformer off Forrest Avenue. Keene slipped into the Ladder 80/Engine 157 firehouse following their response and, again, stole small to moderate sums of cash from his fellow firefighters.
The shamed firefighter was also caught stealing $50 from a co-workers’ locker at a Randall’s Island facility where he worked.
All told, Keene stole around $1,900 from other FDNY employees.
Rose Gill Hearn, the commissioner for the Department of Investigation said, according to NBC New York News, “For anybody to call in a fake 911 call when the police department, the fire department, [and] EMS have so much to do is outrageous. For it to be a firefighter doing it is beyond the pale of anything we have seen.”
The Department of Investigation reports Keene admitted to theft Thursday. Now he faces felony charges for making the fake calls as well as for grand larceny and burglary.
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