CB operator charged under new city law

By KRISTIN GORDON,
The Eagle-Gazette Staff

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Complaints from a group of neighbors experiencing interference on
household
appliances from phones and TVs to baby monitors have resulted in a
court
case against a local citizens band radio operator.

James A. Disbennet, 48, 427 Harrison Ave., is charged with operating a
CB
radio exceeding 4 watts, a first-degree misdemeanor, and two counts of
operating a CB radio without certification, a fourth-degree
misdemeanor.
Disbennet, whose handle is "Sugar Bear," answered a summons in
Fairfield
County Municipal Court last Tuesday and was released on a recognizance
bond.

In August 2002, Lancaster City Council was the first in the U.S. to
pass
such an ordinance, allowing the city to enforce rules set by the
Federal
Communication Commission regulating the strength of CB radios, said
Assistant City Law Director Dave Trimmer.

According to the ordinance, the definition of CB radio "includes all
private, two-way, short-distance voice communications service for
personal
or business activities of the general public."

In January, local residents began to log feedback problems they
experienced,
Trimmer said. Noise was reported on Harrison, Fifth and Washington
avenues.

One woman had problems almost every time she used her telephone. She
said it
interfered with calls such as learning a family member was in the
hospital.

Another woman heard interference over a baby monitor she keeps near her
husband who suffered from a stroke. When she heard calls from a CB
radio
operator named "Sugar Bear" late at night, she would have to turn off
the
monitor so it wouldn't wake her husband.

"Complainants must have a log of the interference for a minimum of four
weeks and there has to be more than one complainant in order to file
charges," Trimmer said.

After a phone conversation with a woman on Harrison Avenue where he
could
hear interference himself, Trimmer went to the neighborhood to
investigate,
he said. He talked to a few individuals, including Disbennet, who said
he
was a CB radio operator but did not possess an amplifier to exceed the
lawful power output.

"It's a hobby," Trimmer said. "Sometimes these hobbies get in the way
of the
rights of the neighbors."

On April 10, Tim Deitz, assistant superintendent of the city's
Electrical,
Communications and Signals Department, used a relative signal strength
meter
in the 400 block of Harrison Avenue to determine where interference was
coming from. The signals he received came from Disbennet's home, which
had a
40- to 50-foot antenna attached to it.

A search warrant was performed the next day by Lancaster police, who
seized
four pieces of CB radio equipment worth more than $1,000 from
Disbennet's
home.

"We're obviously treading on new ground," said Scott Wood, Disbennet's
attorney. "He's not been given any type of option to defend himself.
This is
a big hobby for him, something he enjoys doing.

"It has him concerned, of course -- he could be facing jail time."

The maximum penalty for a first-degree misdemeanor is a $1,000 fine and
180
days in jail.

Wood also is concerned about the case, which he's just begun
investigating.

"It's obviously a very interesting case -- this is the first ordinance
of
its kind in the country," he said. "But apparently, this ordinance was
passed in August 2002 but was never published."

According to the ordinance, No. 30-02, it was passed by council Aug. 26
and
approved Aug. 28.

The city started looking into the problem nearly two years earlier
after
neighbors on Talmadge Avenue started having problems, Trimmer said. The
city
received a petition with 28 signatures and contacted the FCC repeatedly
about the problem of enforcement.