RUMSON: FIRED COP SUES TO GET JOB BACK
Damien Brennan’s vehicle after the September 21, 2014 crash in Red Bank. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A former Rumson cop who crashed his personal vehicle into the back of a Red Bank store while enroute to his moonlight gig guarding Bruce Springsteen’s mansion has sued for reinstatement, according to a lawsuit.
Sergeant Damien Brennan, 38, of Howell, was axed from his borough job last month, even though a DWI charge against him had been dropped, according to the suit, first reported by More Monmouth Musings.
Now, Brennan has filed suit in state Superior Court in Monmouth County in an attempt to force Rumson to return his gun, badge and job.
Brennan was slightly injured in the accident, in which his Chevy Camaro plowed into a dumpster behind Fisher Diamonds, at the corner of White and Broad streets, shortly after midnight on September 21, 2014, police said at the time.
According to the suit, Brennan was enroute from the Dublin House pub on Monmouth Street to his second job guarding Springsteen’s Rumson property. The rock star, who once called Rumson home, now lives with his family in Colts Neck but maintains ownership of the Bellevue Avenue estate.
After the accident, Brennan was transported to Riverview Medical Center, where he was treated and released. Red Bank police charged him with DWI and careless driving.
The case ended last December when Brennan pleaded guilty to reckless driving after a blood sample was found to be inadmissible in court. His attorney, Peter O’Mara, had argued that the sample taken at the hospital was inadmissible under a 2013 United States Supreme Court ruling that found that police must obtain a warrant before taking a sample from a defendant. No warrant was obtained in Brennan’s case, O’Mara said.
Judge William Hintelman sentenced Brennan to a 60-day license suspension and a $456 fine plus court costs, according to court records.
After an internal affairs investigation and a series of hearings conducted in Rumson, the borough council terminated Brennan last month.
In the lawsuit, Brennan contends that the accident was the result of a medical condition, Meniere’s Disease.
