NJ police chief retires early after drunken kerfuffle with his own cop who slammed him on car hood : mayor

The Jersey Shore police chief who was slammed on a car hood during a caught-on-camera scuffle with a subordinate will retire Friday — six months earlier than planned, officials said.

Bradley Beach Police Chief Leonard Guida has faced mounting criticism over the last week after local news outlet TAPinto published bodycam video of the Nov. 9 incident, in which an apparently inebriated Guida is seen swaying and stumbling his way up to a drunk driving crash as he berates his own sergeant.

The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation into his actions, which led the borough to suspend the chief from his $202,000-per-year job.

Now it appears Guida’s conduct that night will end his career, too.

“[The prosecutor’s] report is complete, and actions have been taken based upon the recommendations from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office,” Mayor Larry Fox said in a Monday statement.

“I’d like to thank Chief Guida for his 40+ years of service to our borough,” Fox continued. “Under his leadership, our community has become a much safer place to live.”

The announcement comes just days after the explosive body camera footage surfaced, showing Guida and Sgt. William Major erupt into a violent argument after Guida questioned Major about why the lettering on his jacket had peeled off.

“Why you got a jacket on that’s not fit to be worn?” Guida asked on the recording. “Get rid of it. That’s ridiculous. You’re a sergeant, for God’s sake.”

Major took the jacket off, then walked back to the smashed-up car. But Guida wasn’t done, and called for Major to come back. When the sergeant ignored him, Guida followed and went to grab his arm.

“Don’t you touch me!” Major yelled as he grabbed the swaying chief by his lapels and threw him up on the hood of a police cruiser. “Don’t you f–king touch me! You have a problem? You grabbed me! Now get out of here, before you get a problem.”

Then he lifted Guida off the car and shoved him away, muttering that his boss was “drunk again,” according to the footage.

Guida began telling other officers to “take him in,” to which Major responded by again trying to shoo him away.

“Chief, get out of here, or you’re gonna’ get locked up,” Major said. “Chief, you’re gonna’ get locked up. You’re grabbing me, I asked you three times to leave me alone. You’re obstructing my DWI … You grabbed me. You were out of line. It’s on video. I’m not going to argue.”

Guida suspended him on the spot, the footage showed. But Major has since returned to duty — even as Guida has remained on the sidelines.

Meanwhile, citizens of the little seaside town just south of Asbury Park took it upon themselves to call for Guida’s dismissal.

“We believe that his continued presence in this position is detrimental to our police force, our community’s well-being and our trust in law enforcement,” resident Beth Keppler wrote in an online petition.

Keppler also slammed Fox and the town’s business administrator, saying that townspeople do not trust the pair to handle the situation appropriately.

“This lack of transparency undermines public confidence and erodes the very fabric of democratic governance,” Keppler wrote.

Several borough council members echoed her statements, with one saying the mayor “kept the Council in the dark regarding in this investigation” and another adding that Fox usurped the council’s authority by taking sole control of the decision about Guida’s future, according to TAPinto.

“Despite all of the Council’s efforts to communicate, Mayor Fox and his administration have ignored our numerous requests for an Executive Session to review the prosecutor’s report and to participate in the decision process,” Council President Jane DeNoble said in a statement obtained by the outlet.

“Clearly, Mayor Fox has no intention to include the Council in making decisions and once again, we the taxpayers will have to foot the bill.”

Fox did not respond to a request for comment about the allegations.