Posted on 06/29/2007 4:09:19 PM PDT by Revtwo
Somerset County Prosecutor Wayne J. Forrest and Montgomery Township Police Director Michael Beltranena announce that a Somerset County Grand Jury has returned an Indictment against Christopher Jaeger, 32, of Hillsborough.
Jaeger, a Montgomery Township Police Officer since 1997 was charged with one count of second degree official misconduct and shoplifting, a disorderly persons offense.
Forrest stated that Jaeger is accused of taking a nutrition bar on April 8 from a display in the WaWa convenience store located on Route 206 in Montgomery without paying for that item.
Jaeger was on duty and in uniform at the time.
The potential penalties associated with the offenses charged include up to 10 years imprisonment and up to $150,000 in fines on the charge of official misconduct and up to six months incarceration and $1,000 in fines on the shoplifting offense.
(Excerpt) Read more at blog.nj.com ...
There has to be more to this story. Geez.
Crikey. Shoplifting a *nutrition bar*??? unlikely. Probably forgot to pay.
Shoplifting a Do-Nut, on the other hand...
He doesn’t need to be crucified for it, but I don’t think I’d trust a cop who could commit a deliberate act of shoplifting.
Unless he forgot he was likely thinking he was entitled to help himself.
I knos that where I live the Sheetz gas station serves free hot dogs, coffee and fountain drinks to cops. Since the cops are in and out of there all night who would want to try and rob the place?
It is the Golden Rule, treat others as you would have them treat you.
Could be, OTOH there are cops who think they are above the law. This guy may be one such and thought he didn't have to pay for it. My guess is that if it went this far, he is a particularly odious example of such.
Leave it to the media to blow it way up because it involved a cop, Gees the average john or Jane doe gets a slap on the wrist a fine perhaps and its over but this cop ,might get 10 years for a stupid nutrition bar???. What is wrong with this picture? sure he was wrong but you do not have to make it look worse then it is
seems petty, but this is an indication of this guys character......NOT what we need as sworn Officers......it could be just the tip of this guys personal iceberg.......this is way different than accepting coffee/donuts from a shopkeeper happy to give them to cops.......fire him!
Like a videotape? ... But the store owner may face prison time for videotaping a cop.
> Could be, OTOH there are cops who think they are above the law. This guy may be one such and thought he didn’t have to pay for it. My guess is that if it went this far, he is a particularly odious example of such.
You could be right. Most cops I know aren’t like that. If hauled on the carpet for something like this, they’d day “Crikey, sorry mate!” and shell out and feel perpetually embarrassed.
Bet there will be a really slow police response time if anyone in that conveneince store ever places a 911 call.
He did something Congress does everyday with the stock market, so what`s the big deal?
Quick, as fast as you can, name as many Senators as you can who aren’t millionaires even though they only make $165k a year (or did they vote themselves another pay raise in between not having to submit to random piss tests?).
Believe what they say. When a cop commits a crime, no matter how low that crime may seem on the scale, the Judge usually throws the book at them. Even more so if the media focuses on it. Yet the exact opposite happens when it involves members of Congress.
Seems like a big response to something this minor. He probably ticked someone off.
A nutrition bar??? If I was going to risk my job, I woul dat least steal a bag of Combos!
Maybe the business will need to find a different mob to pay protection money to, if the unionized government sponsored one is incapable of the task.
Great attitude, tax / extort protection money from the local business, and if a squawk is made about one of the wise guys collecting a little extra, no protection or "a little slow" response. Charming.
I agree completely. Most of these stores have policies in place to ensure maximum prosecution; all cases are supposed to be treated equally. They have no problem with ruining teenage kids lives with a felony conviction, so I think this is a good precedent. The police are the first line of defense against “law enforcement” versus “justice”; it amazes me how many times intent is not even considered... You are presumed to have intentionally stolen something unless you can prove otherwise. Maybe these cops will think before they ruin other peoples lives over this kind of crap if they get equal treatment. The difference is, they won’t get equal treatment. They have a paid legal defense fund that will ensure they don’t have to rely on a public defender, and the jury will sympathize with them; the people whose lives they indiscrimantly ruin over this kind of petty stuff don’t have that luxury. And yes, I have known some of them, so it is a little personal.
you know people who have had their lives ‘ruined’ over taking a $1 nutrition bar? Or you know cops that ‘ruin’ lives?
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