A Clinton Township man accused of impersonating firefighter or emergency medical services personnel at incident scenes, including a homicide, was sentenced to probation in Macomb County Circuit Court.
Jason Edward Barnes, 48, was sentenced Aug. 19 to two years of zero tolerance probation and other conditions by Circuit Judge James Maceroni, according to online court records. Barnes pleaded no contest in June in three cases.
He pleaded no contest to three counts of impersonating firefighter/EMS personnel; one count each of weapons-firearms possession by a prohibited person and weapons-ammunition possession by a prohibited person, and two counts of unlawful use of fire emblems/logos, according to court records.
Maceroni sentenced Barnes to 35 days in the county jail, with credit for 35 days served, according to the records.
Barnes’ attorney, Kevin Kijewski, indicated in an email Aug. 21 that his client has no comment.
According to an Aug. 20 release from the county prosecutor’s office, Barnes’ sentence focused on mental health treatment. Prosecutor Peter Lucido indicated in the release that the sentence sends a message that impersonating emergency personnel “will not be tolerated” and that “accountability comes first, while also requiring mental health treatment to reduce the risk of future harm.”
Barnes’ sentence included that he is to undergo a psychiatric evaluation and comply with recommended treatment or enroll in counseling for at least the next year. He is not to use alcohol or drugs without a prescription; maintain employment of 30 hours a week; not use any other name other than his legal name; not use or buy costumes or masks, and not possess identification, insignia, badges, uniforms or other items associated with or suggesting a criminal justice or law enforcement agency, according to court records.
The offenses occurred in 2023 and 2024. The prosecutor’s office announced charges against Barnes in June 2024.
The office indicated that Barnes represented himself to be a first responder and offered assistance to a Clinton Township police officer, who was at a residence where a homicide occurred in October 2023. That led to additional investigation into Barnes.
In June 2024, prosecutors announced that Barnes was arraigned in connection with impersonating fire personnel two other times. In their 2024 release, they said that in May 2024, he came to the scene of a homicide with a badge, introduced himself as a fire captain and tried to gain entry into the home where a death investigation was being conducted.
They also indicated that on a different day in May 2024, he came to a fire investigation outfitted in firefighter gear with a badge and spoke with officers at the scene.
Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on X: @challreporter.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Clinton Township man who impersonated firefighter or EMS personnel sentenced to probation
Reporting by Christina Hall, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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