LOCKPORT, N.Y. – Authorities say an upstate New York man has been arrested on charges he used a Webcam to stage a fake suicide, upsetting chat-room viewers overseas.
Joseph Shepherd was arrested Sunday and charged with aggravated harassment and falsely reporting an incident. State police say the 21-year-old told investigators a breakup with his girlfriend prompted him to carry out the recent hoax.
A trooper says Shepherd lay on a bed at home in Lockport near Buffalo and played dead after pretending to slit his wrists. Alarmed chat-room viewers alerted police in Gwent, England, who contacted Interpol, and authorities traced Shepherd's computer.
It wasn't clear if Shepherd enlisted an attorney. Calls to Lockport town hall went unanswered Monday.
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