El fiscal del condado de Ocean, Bradley D.. Billhimer anunció que en febrero 13, 2023, Matthew Curtis, 47, del municipio de Little Egg Harbor, was charged with providing a False Report to Law Enforcement Authorities, Contempt of a Judicial or Protective Order, and being a Certain Person prohibited from Possessing a Weapon.
The charges result from an investigation conducted by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Professional Standards Unit, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Domestic Violence/Weapons Squad, and Little Egg Harbor Township Police Department. The investigation revealed that Curtis – a Detective with the Island Heights Police Department – was required to surrender to law enforcement any guns that he owned or possessed pursuant to the imposition of a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) issued against him on May 11, 2022. En esa fecha, Curtis surrendered a number of weapons to law enforcement. En mayo 13, 2022, Curtis authored and signed a letter advising law enforcement that he had sold three handguns that were registered to him prior to the issuance of the TRO, and indicated he no longer owned those weapons. A subsequent weapons trace conducted by the United States Department of Alcohol, Tabaco, Firearms and Explosives indicated, sin embargo, that Curtis remained the registered owner of the subject handguns. En diciembre 11, 2022, Curtis filed a report with the Little Egg Harbor Police Department, asserting that three handguns were stolen from his unlocked personal vehicle in front of his home. Investigation further revealed that one of those handguns he reported stolen was one of the weapons he claimed to have sold prior to the issuance of the TRO. That same weapon was recovered from a defendant accused of a motor vehicle theft and eluding in Essex County, New Jersey.
En febrero 14, 2023, Curtis was processed at the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office and released on a summons pending a future appearance in Ocean County Superior Court. He was also suspended with pay from his position with the Island Heights Police Department.
Prosecutor Billhimer acknowledges the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Professional Standards Unit, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Domestic Violence/Weapons Squad, Departamento de policía de Little Egg Harbor, and United States Department of Alcohol, Tabaco, Firearms and Explosives, por sus esfuerzos de colaboración en relación con esta investigación.
Los cargos mencionados anteriormente son meras acusaciones y se recuerda a la prensa y al público que todos los acusados se presumen inocentes a menos y hasta que se demuestre su culpabilidad más allá de toda duda razonable en un tribunal de justicia..
RPC. 3.6(b)(6).