Police say false 911 calls were placed by an area man who wanted to fight fires

Boredom and an unfulfilled ambition to be a firefighter appear to be what motivated a Great Barrington man to place false emergency radio transmissions that are considered serious threats to public safety, according to police.Adam Perrelli, 35, is accused of placing eight calls on two different days to Litchfield County Dispatch (LCD), the area’s 911 center, which handles fire and ambulance calls for 20 towns. He was arrested by Connecticut State Police on April 4 and is being held on $125,000 bond. During an investigation by the State Police Western District Major Crime Squad, friends and acquaintances came forward in response to a plea from the police for information. According to the arrest warrant application, they described a man with addiction issues and an obsession with emergency services. Perrelli’s ex-girlfriend told detectives he had told her he always wanted to be a firefighter and may have once been a member of the fire department in Branford, Conn., in the New Haven area where he grew up.Perrelli, whose address was listed in the warrant as an apartment at 179 Main St., was arrested April 4 in Pittsfield at David White & Sons, where he works as a landscaper. Calls began on ChristmasThe first four calls occurred on the evening of Dec. 25, 2013, during about a two-and-a-half hour period. The caller identified himself as Goshen Car 2, which does not exist, and falsely reported a medical emergency at the Sharon Fire Department, to which an ambulance was dispatched. Posing next as Warren Car 2, he tried to turn back units responding to a chimney fire in Morris. He twice called in as Sharon Car 1, the first time asking for a radio test and then, six minutes later, as Sharon Car 2.The transmissions stopped for the day after the real Sharon Car 2, who is also an LCD dispatcher who was on duty, answered that last call.On Jan. 6, over the course of 10 minutes, four more suspect transmissions were made claiming to be calls by firefighters from Sheffield, Watertown and Torrington.All LCD transmissions and radio traffic are taped. A ninth recording was later discovered by LCD because a man now believed to have been the suspect used an LCD radio frequency to have a conversation with himself in which he played the parts of a dispatcher and fire personnel, and used addresses consistent with ones in New York City.On Jan. 8, LCD Executive Director Dan Soule filed a complaint with the State Police. By that evening, recordings of two of the transmissions were released to the public through the media, and were shown as “breaking news” on major broadcast channels. Two more recordings were released soon after. Members of the public were asked for help and information.Reports of drugs, gloatingBeginning in mid-February, and over the course of the next week, four people came forward to the police with useful information. All wished to remain anonymous because, they said, Perrelli uses drugs and becomes violent easily. They all said they knew Perrelli well, spoke with him regularly and identified him almost without a doubt as the voice on the tapes. They related various bits of information such as that Perrelli always carried radio equipment and a portable scanner to monitor emergency calls; that he planned to bury his radio equipment to avoid being tracked; and that he had told them about making the fake transmission, and had even bragged about it. They also alleged that Perrelli had used crack cocaine in the past, and had recently begun using again, as well as drinking alcohol.One told detectives, according to the warrant, that Perrelli was “laughing and gloating about his actions and that he played the audio recordings from the Connecticut news and was happy that he had made the national news.” They described his pickup truck, which has been disabled for some time following an accident, as equipped with multicolored emergency lights, radio equipment and a PA system. On occasion, he would activate the lights and use the PA to tell drivers to pull over, they said.Among his radios and equipment, an informant said, was a Baofeng transceiver, which detectives confirmed is capable of being programmed to receive and transmit calls on an LCD frequency.He wanted to fight firesOn Feb. 18, a day after the first informant’s call, detectives went to the Great Barrington Police Department because they’d been told Perrelli had recently run into some trouble. In the early morning hours of that day, Perrelli’s roommate had called 911 after the two fought. Police there took Perrelli to a local hotel. Great Barrington Police also told detectives of Perrelli’s interest in the fire department there.What they learned from Fire Chief Charles Burger was that he knew Perrelli well. He listened to the tapes and confirmed that the voice could be Perrelli’s. According to Burger’s warrant statement, Perrelli’s June 2013 application to join the Great Barrington Fire Department was denied this past January because of his background and actions that may not have been illegal, but were of concern to Burger.He said Perrelli had been videotaping and posting online at Facebook and YouTube fire engines en route to calls and activity at fire scenes. Some of the tapes were sensitive in nature, and Burger asked Perrelli to remove them.Burger stated Perrelli listened to the scanner and showed up at emergency calls as a way to prove his availability.One informant said Perrelli had confessed to him several times, and that his motivation was boredom.His ex-girlfriend also positively identified the voice on the recordings as Perrelli’s. She had broken up with him around last November. She said he had lived at some point in a halfway house in North Canaan run by Mountainside Addiction Treatment Center. Perrelli moved to Great Barrington about a year ago, according to the court documents.He has been charged with first-degree reporting a false incident, third-degree interruption of computer service and tampering with or fabricating evidence, all felonies. He was also charged with interfering with an officer and reckless endangerment, both misdemeanor crimes. He was arraigned in Bantam Superior Court in Litchfield April 7 and remains in jail in lieu of posting a $125,000 bond.Perrelli is due back in court April 30, when he is expected to enter a plea.