22-year-old Chilean national arrested with device that disabled communication between arresting officers
Houston burglary suspect found with jamming device disrupting police communications
Ignacio Castillo Contreras was arrested for burglary in Houston, but the discovery of a radio frequency jamming device in his backpack has raised serious concerns. The device interfered with police equipment, preventing officers from using body cameras, key fobs, and radios during an emergency response.
HOUSTON, Texas - Ignacio Castillo Contreras was arrested for burglary, but it's what he had in his backpack that's causing concern.
Contreras arrested for burglary in Houston
The backstory:
During his probable cause hearing, Contreras told the court he's not a U.S. citizen and has been in Houston just a couple of months and is living at a hotel. He was arrested on February 8th for burglary.
West University Place Police say when he broke into a home in the 6400 block of Westchester they found a radio frequency jamming device in his backpack.
Discovery of radio frequency jamming device raises concerns
"A radio frequency tracking device sends a lot of signals very high intense signals around you," said tech expert Juan Guevara Torres. "It blocks signals from going to point A to point B."
According to court documents, officers within the vicinity of the device were unable to properly use their body-worn cameras and key fobs to lock and unlock police vehicles and were unable to transmit information through police issued hand held radio devices during an active emergency.
Expert insights on the tactical use of jamming devices
Why you should care:
"The fact that this defendant was able to jam up the local police officers who were responding to the calls their radios key fobs getting into their car and body cams makes it a dangerous situation for law enforcement," said former DA Kim Ogg.
"In my opinion, as a tech expert, I can tell you that whoever did this has some tactical knowledge on how to use this device and where to place them," Torres said.
Remember Contreras told the court he's not a U.S. citizen, and he's only been in Houston a couple of months staying at a hotel.
"If you imagine an ordinary criminal committing a crime with a radio frequency jamming device, now add to that someone with real bad intent who wants to harm a lot of people like a terrorist, a mass murderer, and it gets scary quick," said Ogg.
The Source: West University Place Police Department.