Inmate escapes hospital, sleeping on job: Police in Central Jersey cited for misconduct

Suzanne Russell, MyCentralJersey.com
·4 min read

Law enforcement officers in Central Jersey were disciplined in 2022 for offenses ranging from sleeping on the job and insubordination to drunken driving arrests and allowing an inmate to escape from the hospital.

The New Jersey Office of the Attorney General has released its report on the number of major disciplines reported by law enforcement departments statewide.

The report includes disciplinary actions from state, county and local agencies between June 2020 and December 2022.

In that 18-month period, there were 1,014 total major disciplines reported to the Attorney General's Office, with 877 different officers receiving discipline. A total of 531 agencies submitted their reports, with 232 different agencies reporting at least one major discipline.

Statewide the report found that 212 officers were terminated, 818 were suspended and 32 demoted. Some officers received multiple types of discipline. The average length of suspension was nearly 38 days.

More: Attorney General publishes list of police misconduct five months past due date

In 2022, more officers were issued a major discipline than the previous year, though 2020 data does not account for the entire year. In 2022, 301 officers were suspended and 69 were terminated, compared to 278 and 62 in 2021.

How many police officers in Central Jersey were disciplined?

In Central Jersey, there were 67 officers who faced major disciplinary action, including 10 corrections officers at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility in Hunterdon County.

Which agencies reported disciplinary actions?

  • Hunterdon County: Raritan Township;

  • Middlesex County: Edison, Highland Park, Middlesex Borough, Middlesex County Corrections, Middlesex County Sheriff’s, Monroe, New Brunswick, Perth Amboy, South Plainfield, South River, Woodbridge;

  • Somerset County: Franklin, North Plainfield, Raritan Borough, South Bound Brook;

  • Union County: Elizabeth, Hillside, Kean University Police, Linden, Plainfield, Rahway, Union County Police, Union County Prosecutor's, Union County Sheriff's;

  • State agencies: Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center, Edna Mahan Correctional Facility.

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Notable cases

  • Middlesex County Sheriff's Officers Elena Rivera and Raymond Smith were each suspended 15 days for allowing an inmate to escape from a hospital on April 1, 2022. The officers failed to check the inmate's shackles as required, failed to position themselves to prevent an escape and failed to immediately notify a supervisor. In addition, the inmate was able to gain access to an officer's cellphone which was used in the escape.

  • South River Lt. John McKenna was suspended 20 days for failing to stop horseplay between members of the department's Detective Bureau and failed to stop inappropriate text messages among members of the unit.

  • Raritan Police Officer Damien Chromowsky was suspended 120 days for an off-duty road rage incident in which he pointed his gun at a driver who improperly passed him in his personal vehicle on a road with a double yellow line and spoke to the driver using profanity and abusive language.

  • Woodbridge Officer Joe Jones was suspended 45 days for head-butting another officer in an off-duty incident.

  • North Plainfield Patrolman Sabrina Romasz was suspended for 20 days for failing to activate her body camera when dispatched to a call.

  • South Bound Brook Officer Paul Romano was terminated after a 110-day suspension for unnecessarily taking his duty weapon out of its holster under circumstances that created a risk of serious harm to others.

  • Linden Officer David Guzman was suspended six days for violating the department's vehicular pursuit policy by being involved in a 24-minute chase through several jurisdictions, including Elizabeth, Newark and Staten Island. An investigation found Guzman followed the suspect vehicle through several one-way streets in the opposite flow of traffic and failed to notify his supervisor.

  • Plainfield Detective Chanel Johnson was suspended 125 days for being charged with an assault on a police officer responding to a disturbance at a party in Hillside.

  • Rahway Officer Thomas Koszalka was suspended 15 days for using a vape device in a patrol vehicle with a member of the public in a backseat, using harsh and profane language with a member of the public and failing to perform his duties in a domestic violence investigation.

  • Union County Sheriff’s Officer Kevin O'Connor was terminated for being involved in an off-duty fight in Atlantic City where he used racially charged language. He also tested positive for a prohibited substance.

  • Edna Mahan Corrections Officers Justin Gentile, Adalberto Duarte, Melanie Cuenca, Michael Horton, Paul Jankin Dariusz Subiszak, Jamie Perez, Jamie Perez, Peter Korczak each were suspended 10 days for sleeping on duty.

  • Edison Officer Mohammad Ghafoor was suspended 90 days for driving while intoxicated while off-duty.

  • Middlesex County Sheriff’s Officer Joshua Padilla was terminated after he was charged with producing and distributing child pornography. Padilla had sex with a minor in Pennsylvania, recorded it, then posted it on a website.

  • Hillside Officer Shakeema Wilson was terminated after being charged with stealing PBA funds. Wilson was admitted into a pre-trial intervention program and forfeited public employment.

Contributing: NorthJersey.com reporter Liam Quinn

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ police misconduct report released by Attorney General