2 charged with impersonating first responders at Medford crash

🚨Two men who stopped at a crash scene were dressed like first responders

🚨Police say they were 'interfering with operations' at the crash scene

🚨Their vehicles had emergency lights and sirens

MEDFORD — Two men who stopped at a crash in Medford Township were charged with impersonating first responders.

Police Chief Arthur Waterman said Matthew Schwalbe, 28, of West Berlin, and Matthew Hesser, 42, of Delanco, stopped at a May 7 crash on Route 70 at Medford Mount Holly Road and were acting “unusually and interfering with operations at the scene” while dressed as first responders.

Their vehicles had emergency lights and sirens, according to Waterman.

An investigation determined they were not first responders in any way and are not authorized to have emergency lights on their personal vehicles. They were charged with impersonating a public servant along with motor vehicle violations.

Court records show both men have criminal records.

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Impersonators stir up distrust of first responders

Waterman is concerned about the incident causing distrust of first responders and says such behavior can't be tolerated.

"When you come across it and someone is acting in that fashion, pretending to be something they're not, when people are there counting on the first responders to take care of them and probably their worst day they don't need somebody there pretending to be one, and people like that need to be dealt with," Waterman told Fox 29.

Vance Luther Boelter, 57, charged with shooting former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in their home outside Minneapolis on Friday, was dressed as a police officer at the time. He faces a charge of impersonating a police officer.

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