Three Long Branch Officers Injured In Vehicle Pursuit

Three Long Branch Police Officers were injured during a car chase on Monday night, Chief Jason Roebuck announced on facebook.

Two detectives were treated at Monmouth Medical and released.  The third officer was held for observation overnight on Jersey Shore Medical Center.

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Statement by Long Branch Police Chief Jason Roebuck on the arrest of Officer Patrick Joyce, Jr

Long Branch Police Chief Jason Roebuck

As with any investigation, especially one involving a law enforcement officer, I cannot legally release certain information to the press, no matter how much I may want to, until that investigation has been completed. This was the situation with the incident involving Officer Patrick Joyce, Jr.

Now that the investigation is complete, and charges filed, I can issue the following statement, with much outrage and embarrassment. Officer Patrick Joyce Jr was charged with Criminal Sexual Contact (4th degree) and Harassment (Disorderly Persons offense) by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office on Friday, February 8th, 2019. While the matter was under investigation, he was immediately suspended without pay, which was supported by the command staff of the department and the City’s leadership. He is now facing termination of his employment.

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Long Branch Cop Charged With Criminal Sexual Contact

Patrick D. Joyce, Jr., 35, of West Long Branch, a Long Branch Police Officer for 12 years, has been charged with fourth-degree Criminal Sexual Contact and Harassment, a petty disorderly persons offense, according to an announcement by Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni.

The charges are the result of an incident that occurred on February 1 at Jack’s Goal Line Stand during a private party celebrating the promotions of 12 Long Branch Officers.  MMM was the first to report on the incident and the investigation.

It is alleged that at the private party Joyce inappropriately touched a 21-year-old woman without her consent for his own sexual arousal or gratification.

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Long Branch Police Officer Under Investigation For Sexual Assault

Photo credit Will Bahamonde via Long Branch PD’s facebook page

MMM has learned that a Long Branch Police Officer is under investigation for allegedly inappropriately groping a female guest, during a celebration of police promotions on Friday night at Jack’s Goal Line Stand, a popular restaurant on Brighton Ave in the city.

Long Branch Police Chief Jason Roebuck confirmed the incident is being investigated by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.

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Christie nominates Judge Escandon for tenure

Judge Paul X. Escandon

Governor Chris Christie announced yesterday that he has nominated Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Paul X. Escandon for reappointment to the bench.  Should Escandon be be confirmed by the State Senate, he will be a tenured Judge eligible to serve until the mandatory retirement age of 70.

Escandon was appointed to the Superior Court in 2009 by Governor Jon Corzine.  His service on the bench became a matter of public controversy when Governor Chris Christie lent a sympathetic ear to Rachel Alintoff, whose divorce was being presided over by Escandon, during a Town Hall Meeting in Garfield, Bergen County, on May 2, 2012.  Alintoff complained to Christie that Escandon stripped her of her parental rights as a punishment for seeking an Order of Protection against her estranged husband in New York and that the Judge ordered her estranged husband, who she said makes over $500,000 per year on Wall Street, to provide only $1000 per month in support for her and her son.

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Amato’s accuser has litigious and calamity prone history

Suzzanne DesMarais. photo via facebook

The woman suing the Monmouth County SPCA and Victor “Buddy” Amato  for harassment has a history of suing her employers for sexual harassment and work related injuries.

According to published reports and interviews, Suzzane DesMarais has won a six figure settlement, multiple workers’ compensation claims and disability pay resulting from her employment as a part-time Special Class II police officer in Long Branch and Plumsted.

She suffered two house fires in six years. After the second fire, she raised money in the name of Chaos Foundation, named for her chocolate lab that perished in the fire. The New Jersey Department of Consumer Affairs does not have a Chaos Foundation listed as a registered charity.

DesMarais, represented by the Shrewsbury law firm Shebell and Shebell, filed suit in Monmouth Superior Court on March second. The former police officer, who worked for MCSPCA as an animal control officer, claimed that Amato regularly sent her racist, sexist and homophobic text messages while she was on the job.  She claims that after she complained to Amato’s superiors that she stopped receiving work and that no corrective action was taken against Amato.  Amato resigned as the SPCA Police Chief after the suit became public through a story on BuzzFeedNews.  Garden State Equality, the gay rights advocacy group of which DesMarais is a member, claims it connected her to BuzzFeed to bring public attention to the lawsuit.

Amato seemed to verify the accuracy of the vulgar and bigoted texts revealed in the BuzzFeed report when he told the Asbury Park Press that they were “jokes between a bunch of guys.”

According to published reports and interviews, DesMarias has been down this road before.

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