RED BANK: COP WED TO EX-CHIEF SUES BOROUGH FOR BIAS

Officer Kristin McConnell and former Chief Darren McConnell in November 2023. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

“Since the inception of her employment with the RBPD, plaintiff has been subjected to a continuous and unbroken pattern of harassment and a hostile work environment,” reads the complaint filed by Mount Laurel attorney Miriam S. Edelstein on behalf of McConnell. 

“The hostile work environment and pattern of offensive comments and conduct have only continued in the absence of the Borough’s willingness to address and correct it,” it continues.

The suit names as defendants the Borough of Red Bank, Mayor Portman, Borough Manager Jim Gant, Police Chief Mike Frazee and five of McConnell’s fellow officers.

Portman, she alleges in the suit, made “inappropriate and offensive comments” to her at a religious community function in October 2023.  Despite her telling Chief McConnell, who reported the comments to Deputy Mayor Kate Triggiano, the suit alleges, “no action was taken to reprimand Mayor Portman or correct the behavior.”

You can download a full copy of the complaint here.

In a written statement, Portman said the borough “will respond through the appropriate legal process and will vigorously defend its position.”

Using boldface and underscored type, Portman also noted that much of the alleged wrongdoing described in Kristin McConnell’s complaint took place while her husband served as chief of the department and during his two-and-a-half year stint as interim borough administrator. McConnell’s suit never mentions her husband. 

“The allegations raised in Officer McConnell’s filing largely concern events that would have occurred during the tenure of her husband – former Chief and Interim Administrator Darren McConnell – when he was responsible for the leadership, management, and supervision of the Police Department,” Portman’s statement reads. 

The lawsuit threatens to continue for the foreseeable future, the tumult Chief Michael Frazee had hoped to move the department past when he formally took over the reins of the department in October 2024.Mayor Billy Portman, at right, swears in Red Bank Police Department Chief Mike Frazee in October 2024. (Photo by Brian Donohue)

Officer McConnell alleges the harassment began after her hiring in 2014 – the same year the attorney general’s report found she and Chief McConnell began a romantic relationship.

She alleges Officers Michael Zadlock and Nicholas Maletto circulated sexualized photographs of her; placed condoms on her vehicle; posted pictures of her with the label “First Lady”; sabotaged the women’s restroom in RBPD headquarters; and filed bogus complaints against her for offenses ranging from not answering her radio to violating procedures during arrests.

“The Borough’s failure to discipline or correct the harassment merely emboldened Ptl. Maletto and Ptl. Zadlock’s harassment and retaliatory conduct which continued and only increased,” the complaint reads.

Zadlock did not return multiple text messages seeking comment. Written notes to Officer Maletto, along with four other officers named in the suit, were delivered by a reporter to police headquarters, but borough officials said comments on the lawsuit would come solely from the mayor or borough administrator.

Officer McConnell also alleges harassment by Red Bank Police Officer Thomas Doremus, which she says began in 2020, after she ended an intimate relationship with him. 

She alleges Doremus spread rumors about her being gay or bisexual, stole money from her checking account to pay his personal bills, and spread rumors that he had caught her cheating on him in their shared home. Doremus is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit. 

In 2025, Doremus, who has since retired, was docked 114 days of sick and vacation time for stealing from another officer, according to a state internal affairs filing. He runs the popular Red Bank Chatter Facebook group. He did not return messages seeking comment. 

In September 2022, McConnell alleges she filed formal complaints of harassment and discrimination against Maletto and Zadlock, but that outside counsel hired by the borough conducted a “sham process” investigation that reached a “sham conclusion” that the allegations were unsubstantiated.

She says she was ranked first on a list of officers eligible for promotion to sergeant, but Frazee and Captain Robert Clayton lowered her ranking to seventh in an act of retaliation.

And she alleges Frazee and Clayton placed her on administrative leave in January 2025 in response to false accusations by other officers.

She was suspended again in September, 2025 for 15 days, and wrongly denied promotion to the rank of sergeant, according to her complaint. 

“Defendants required plaintiff to relinquish her personal firearms as well as her duty weapons on the basis of the false, sexist and ableist accusations portraying her as an ‘unhinged woman,” the suit reads. 

The lawsuit also states she was ordered to undergo psychological fitness for duty evaluation and counseling that were “unprecedented in the borough and RBPD’s history for any law enforcement officer.”

Officer McConnell’s suit also names Gant as a defendant, alleging his role as borough manager has “infiltrated the highest level of operational decisions within the RBPD which decisions previously resided with the Chief of Police.” Gant, the suit alleges, is making decisions on police discipline in violation of State of New Jersey Internal Affairs policies.

The alleged retaliation, McConnell’s suit states, included Zadlock, who serves as president of PBA Local 39, complaining about Chief McConnell’s actions to the borough council and Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office. 

In a complaint filed with the AG in November, 2022, PBA Local 39 alleged McConnell failed to recuse himself in “approximately 14” internal affairs matters involving Altimari between 2014 and 2021. It was those complaints that eventually led to the state Attorney General’s office investigation and eventual call for the firing of Chief McConnell. 

Chief McConnell officially resigned in September, 2024 to settle misconduct allegations levied by the borough in the wake of the report.

Under the terms of the settlement, he forfeited four months of sick/vacation pay, but also received a $176,000 sick time payout and was allowed to continue receiving a $138,000 annual pension. 

Here is Mayor Portman’s complete statement:

The allegations raised in Officer McConnell’s filing largely concern events that would have occurred during the tenure of her husband – former Chief and Interim Administrator Darren McConnell  – when he was responsible for the leadership, management, and supervision of the Police Department. To the extent the claims outlined in the complaint have merit, they relate to conditions that existed under that prior leadership—not the Borough’s current administration.

Since that time, the Borough has put new professional leadership in place and has been focused on strengthening accountability, reinforcing standards, and addressing issues that originated during that earlier period.

It is important that the timeframe and leadership structure in place when these alleged events occurred be clearly understood. The current administration, together with the Borough Manager and the present Police Chief, remains committed to maintaining a professional and accountable department moving forward.

Because this matter is now in litigation, the Borough will respond through the appropriate legal process and will vigorously defend its position.

redbankgreen editor Brian Donohue may be reached via email at [email protected] or by calling or texting 848-331-8331.

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