Screengrab from a post by Nina Ferrante on the Red Bank New Jersey Facebook page Sunday. (Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s police chief disputed a claim of excessive force posted on Facebook Sunday, telling redbankgreen that there was “no physical contact at all” when officers encountered a couple on New Jersey Transit property Saturday night.
Red Bank’s police chief hasn’t seen a single case of unwarranted force during an arrest in five years, he tells redbankgreen. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s police chief says he reviews every report of force used by members of his department during arrests, and hasn’t found any in the past five years that appear improper.
Chief Darren McConnell’s observation followed the release by NJ Advance Media last week of data on every arrest in which police used force in New Jersey over four years.
Police Chief Steve McCarthy in 2010. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi. Click to enlarge)
Members of the Red Bank Police Benevolent Association plan a memorial bike ride this week for the late Chief Steve McCarthy, who died last September.
Thursday’s 25-mile ride to Brielle, expected to include between 50 and 70 officers and civilians, falls one day before the annual Police Unity Tour, in which cops bike to Washington, D.C. in honor of law enforcement officials who have died in the line of duty.
Darren McConnell chats with Mary Ellen McCarthy, the widow of late Red Bank Police Chief Steve McCarthy, shortly before his swearing-in as McCarthy’s sucessor Wednesday evening.
McConnnell, 44, joined the department as 19-year-old patrolman, shortly after his graduation from Rumson-Fair Haven Regional, and served most recently as a captain. He’ll earn a starting salary of $133,414 to oversee the 40-person department.
Also sworn in were four new patrolmen, including Cevin Albert, a Red Bank native who has worked in the department since 2008 as a dispatcher. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
Captain Darren McConnell is expected to be named chief of the Red Bank police department at Wednesday night’s borough council meeting, redbankgreen has learned. McConnell has been the officer in charge of the department since the September 23 death of Chief Steve McCarthy. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
Southbound Riverside Avenue in Red Bank will be closed for about an hour Friday morning for the funeral of police Chief Steve McCarthy, which begins at the John E. Day Funeral Home, at left above. (Click to enlarge)
Red Bank commuters may encounter delays or detours Friday morning during the funeral cortege for police Chief Steve McCarthy, police said.
With numerous vehicles expected to assemble at the John E. Day Funeral Home on Riverside Avenue for a procession to a church in Long Branch, southbound Route 35 along Riverside Avenue will be closed for about an hour before the procession gets underway at 9:30 a.m., Captain Darren McConnell tells redbankgreen.
The procession will also include a brief stop of the hearse outside the police station, at 90 Monmouth Street, and a silent tribute by Red Bank volunteer firefighters outside St. James Church on Broad Street, McConnell said.
Full details below.
Chief Steve McCarthy at borough hall in November, 2011. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank Police Chief Steve McCarthy died Monday morning following an extended battle with cancer. He was 50 years old.
McCarthy died at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, where he had been hospitalized in recent weeks, Mayor Pasquale Menna confirmed.
“I have lost a good friend and invaluable partner,” Menna said in a statement released at noontime. “The police department has been deprived of the spirited leadership and unstinted dedication of the most consummate law enforcement professional in the state. His fellow borough employees have lost a colleague who was a true friend. The residents of Red Bank have been deprived of an intelligent, gracious, gentle and efficient public servant.”
“The whole department is beside itself with grief,” police Commissioner and Council President Art Murphy told redbankgreen. “Everybody in [borough hall] is taking it very hard.”
Acting Chief Steve McCarthy is expected to be sworn in Sunday to formally take command of Red Bank’s 41-officer police department, redbankgreen has learned.
McCarthy, right, follows retired Chief Mark Fitzgerald, who stepped down in November after seven years at the helm. Fitzgerald has been burning off accumulated vacation time since then, and officially ends his role as a borough employee tomorrow.
McCarthy said he could not confirm that he would be sworn in at the borough government reorganization meeting on Sunday, when elected officials have said they will identify their choice from among the four police captains eligible for the job.
This installment of our regular Red Bank crime wrapup includes two weeks of police reports instead of the usual one. As always, the information below was supplied by the Red Bank Police Department and appears here unedited.
Week of June 26 to July 3, 2009
Criminal Mischief occurring Riverside Ave. between 6-27-09 and 6-28-09. Victim reported that unknown person(s) broke the windshield wiper arm off of vehicle. Ptl. David Hicks.
Criminal Mischief occurring in Marine Park on 6-28-09. Report of a port-a-john being knocked over on to its side by unknown person(s). Ptl. George Travostino.
Criminal Mischief occurring on Oakland St. on 6-28-09. A Latino male was seen breaking a lamp attached to a restaurant and knocking over temporary stop signs at the intersection and breaking sand bags. Ptl. Paul Perez.
Unedited entries from the Red Bank Police Department activity log for the week of November 7 to 14.
Criminal Mischief occurring at Globe Court between 11-6-08 and 11-7-08. Victim reported that unknown person(s) broke two window in the business. Ptl. Paul Perez.
Theft occurring on 11-7-08 at Maple Ave. Victim reported that unknown person(s) stole a wallet containing credit cards and I.D. from locker. Ptl. George Travostino.
Theft occurring on 11-7-08 at West Front St. Victim reported that unknown person(s) stole a Verizon LG Cellular telephone. Lt. Daniel Bannon.
Councilwoman Jacqueline Sturdivant, framed in green, at Wednesday’s meeting. (Photo from Zoom. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Newly elected Red Bank Councilwoman Jacqueline Sturdivant this week followed through on a campaign pledge by proposing the borough Redevelopment Agency be disbanded.
She also proposed resetting the power of the borough business administrator, a role she called “authoritarian.”
By JOHN T. WARD
Collectible toy dealer Robert Bruce was not living in the storage unit where he was found dead Friday, as reported by police and the media, family members contend.
The owner of the storage facility supported the family’s contention.
Interim Business Administrator and police Chief Darren McConnell with Senior Center Director Jackie Reynolds in October. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
At its semimonthly meeting Tuesday night, the Red Bank council is expected to consider a new employment pact with the borough’s acting administrator.
Also on deck: appointing a Master Plan consultant; weighing in on the future of the charter school; and anticipating a looming retirement at borough hall.
Red Bank Patrolman Stan Balmer and his K9 unit partner Hunter, seen here during a training exercise, helped track down suspects who fled the scene of a crash Thursday evening, police Chief Darren McConnell said Friday.
A cast-iron clock that’s stood on Broad Street in Red Bank for more than a century suffered slight damaged when it was knocked over by a truck Wednesday morning.
A Tinton Falls man is facing weapons charges after he brought a handgun loaded with armor-piercing bullets into Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank last month, police Chief Darren McConnell told redbankgreen Wednesday.
The suspect, Wesley Rucker, age 34, was also charged with impersonating a federal law enforcement official.
A street sweeper sat ready for use behind barriers that remained at Broad and White streets early Monday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s Broadwalk dining promenade wrapped up its second season with the reopening of upper Broad Street to traffic Monday.
But downtown motorists will face a new set of obstacles as the borough embarks next week on a road project that’s expected to continue until Christmas.
Here’s what to expect, per acting borough administrator and police Chief Darren McConnell.
By JOHN T. WARD
A pedestrian was struck by a vehicle in front of Riverside Gardens Park in Red Bank Thursday night, according to police Chief Darren McConnell.
Phil Blackwood, at left, addressing architect Pradeep Kapoor during the first of two sessions Wednesday. Below, the Senior Center floor plan. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Repair plans for Red Bank’s long-shuttered Senior Center may get some final tweaks following a pair of public comment sessions held Wednesday.
Suggestions ranged from small (add a door buzzer) to large (dig a basement).
Motorists traveling into Red Bank via southbound Route 35 may encounter delays Thursday as a utility crew continues post-accident work at Pearl, Water and Wall streets.
No injuries were reported after a car struck a home on Branch Avenue in Red Bank shortly before 4 a.m Thursday.
Chief Darren McConnell at National Night Out in August. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
One of two Red Bank council members who last week called the search for a new borough administrator “stalled” said he learned only this weekend that his colleagues had halted the search weeks earlier.
Meanwhile, two others on the all-Democratic council, as well as Mayor Pasquale Menna, said they’re happy with the job police Chief Darren McConnell is doing as interim administrator, and feel no pressure to replace him.
Former Business Administrator Ziad Shehady, right, with council members Ed Zipprich, left, and Michael Ballard in December, 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
With a second vacancy in a key position looming, Red Bank’s search for a borough administrator has stalled without explanation, say two council members.
And the current, interim holder of the position, police Chief Darren McConnell, tells redbankgreen” that there has been no recent movement” toward a replacement.
Mayor Pasquale Menna, however, disagrees, and says the local government is operating “in stellar fashion” under McConnell.
A Keyport woman faces a drunk-driving charge after crashing into two parked vehicles in Red Bank over the Labor Day weekend.
Peter O’Reilly, left, with Mayor Pasquale Menna, right, and since-departed Business Administrator Ziad Shehady in May, 2019. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
After just two and a half years, Red Bank is back in the market for a borough chief financial officer.
With the departure of Peter O’Reilly, who submitted a letter of resignation Tuesday, the top two jobs at town hall are now vacant.