William M. McNichol, 60, a Willow Grove resident and former Horsham Fire Company police officer, was sentenced today to one year of probation after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of impersonating a public servant in June, The Pottstown Mercury reported.

McNichol was arrested by the Hatboro Police Department on Saturday, June 21. According to their report, McNichol conducted a traffic stop while impersonating a police officer at the intersection of S York Road and Byberry Road following a road rage incident. He used emergency lighting equipment to signal the victim of the road rage incident to pull over.

“While driving north on York Road (the woman) noticed that McNichol had activated his emergency lights and pulled over as she thought she was being lawfully pulled over by a police officer. That is when McNichol stopped behind her, approached her vehicle while holding a portable radio where he continued to yell at her for her driving behavior,” Hatboro Detective Sergeant Conner Dilks said.

The following day, Horsham Fire Company terminated his membership, noting in a letter that “the company’s training or instruction did not encourage “him to believe that his actions were appropriate, acceptable, or lawful.”

A judge also ordered McNichol to complete an anger management counseling program and to pay a $500 fine, The Mercury said.

The judge ordered McNichol to have no contact with the victim.

With the charge, authorities alleged that while McNichol was an active fire police officer at the time, he was not on duty nor acting in his official capacity at the time and had no authority to perform the traffic stop.

Fire police officers normally are assigned to regulate traffic or crowds at active emergency scenes.

McNichol is no longer a fire police officer.

The victim told police that she was traveling on Easton Road about 7:25 p.m. June 21 when McNichol began to follow her after he apparently believed she had cut him off, according to court documents.

McNichol allegedly exited his personal vehicle to yell profanities at the woman twice, while they were stopped at traffic lights at Easton and Horsham roads and again at York and Horsham roads, according to a criminal complaint filed by Hatboro Detective Sergeant Conner Dilks.

“While driving north on York Road (the woman) noticed that McNichol had activated his emergency lights and pulled over as she thought she was being lawfully pulled over by a police officer. That is when McNichol stopped behind her, approached her vehicle while holding a portable radio where he continued to yell at her for her driving behavior,” Hatboro Detective Sergeant Conner Dilks said.

An emergency responder with the Second Alarmer’s Rescue Squad witnessed the traffic stop at South York and Byberry roads and contacted Hatboro police to report what he observed.

Additionally, according to court papers, a member of the Horsham Fire Department observed McNichol operating his personal vehicle with its emergency lights activated in the area of York Road in Hatboro and he contacted the fire chief to inquire if the fire department had received a call.

The fire chief subsequently contacted McNichol to inquire about the reports and McNichol allegedly claimed “that a cooler had fallen within his vehicle and accidentally activated his emergency lighting,” according to the criminal complaint.

McNichol made the same claim when he was later interviewed by police.

McNichol told police he was “dangerously cut off” by another vehicle while traveling on Easton Road and turned his vehicle around to follow the other vehicle so he could tell the driver how dangerously she was operating her vehicle.

McNichol allegedly told police that once the woman pulled over to the side of the road he exited his vehicle and spoke to her briefly. When the conversation ended “is when he noticed that his emergency lights were activated,” McNichol told police, according to court documents.

Investigators contacted the Montgomery County Department of Public Safety which is responsible for all dispatches of Horsham Fire Department as well as their fire police officers. A list of dispatches that Horsham Fire Department had received that day showed McNichol was not listed on any of them as being present or responding. Additionally, McNichol’s portable radio had made a “phantom transmission” where no words were spoken about 7:27 p.m. June 21, according to court documents.

Investigators obtained video from surveillance cameras from several locations that depicted McNichol’s Dodge Charger vehicle with its flashing emergency lights illuminated and also outside his vehicle standing next to the driver’s side window of another vehicle engaging with its operator, according to court documents.

A summary charge of harassment was dismissed against McNichol as part of the plea agreement.