It was a spoof.
That’s the word from Mayor Jim Ireton and Police Chief Barbara Duncan.
Salisbury police have identified David Gaudette as the person who called local blogger Joe Albero pretending to be a drunk Mayor Ireton conceding the upcoming mayoral election and asking him to meet with him the next day.
The Salisbury Daily Times reports that when Ireton did not show up at the fictitious meeting Albero phoned City Council Vice President Debbie Campbell to tell her about the incident.
Campbell said, in turn, she called the Police Chief Duncan out of concern for the Mayor.
Duncan said she then contacted the Mayor who told her that he was okay and had not called Albero.
Phone records later revealed that it was not Ireton but rather a phone spoofing app that made it appear Ireton had actually made the call.
The Police Chief said the matter is now considered to be closed.
The Daily Times also reports that Gaudette is the roommate of one of the paper’s reporters who has since resigned citing her knowledge of the situation and failing to disclose it to officials.
Gaudette also made a prank call to the paper’s editor that showed up as a missed call disguising his number as that of Albero.
Gaudette has apologized for the incident.
