Englishtown, NJ police chief arrested on shoplifting charges

👮‍♂️ Chief moved from paid leave to unpaid suspension

👮‍♂️ Mayor says the accusations are "serious"

👮‍♂️ Embattled police chief faces another accusation

ENGLISHTOWN — This New Jersey town's police chief is now suspended without pay after his arrest earlier this month, according to local officials.

Englishtown Police Chief Peter Cooke Jr., 58, was arrested on Nov. 1, according to Marlboro municipal court records. One of the accusations dates back to Aug. 12, 2024.

The chief was charged with third-degree computer theft and third-degree conspiracy to commit shoplifting.

According to the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office, investigators found that Cooke misused a police database to look up information about two people outside the scope of any legitimate law enforcement database between February 2019 and August 2023.

Investigators also found that Cooke helped another person shoplift several times from a local grocery store this past August and September, prosecutors said.

The charges were first announced on YouTube by John Van Dyke with New Jersey Exposed. New Jersey 101.5 could not corroborate some of the claims made in the video.

Englishtown mayor says charges are serious

Mayor Dan Francisco said the charges were "two serious crimes that speak to moral turpitude."

He said the borough played no role in the investigation and the prosecutor's office will handle the case.

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"During the pendency of these charges, the police department will remain under the stewardship of Lt. Trevor Martinson — who has done an outstanding job building relations in the community and leading his team. I have full confidence in Lt. Martinson and his continued leadership," said Mayor Francisco.

Accusation of retaliation against police chief

Cooke joined the Englishtown police in 2000 and served as officer in charge from 2011 to 2018. He was promoted to chief in 2019.

In April, Cooke was placed on paid administrative leave. His salary was nearly $129,000 a year as of June, according to state pension records. He is now suspended without pay.

Officials have not said why Cooke was first placed on leave. At the time, Mayor Francisco said to the Manalapan Patch that it was a personnel matter. It's unknown whether it was related to other accusations.

Cooke is accused of harassment by the former municipal clerk, who filed a lawsuit against him and the borough one year ago.

According to the lawsuit, the clerk faced retaliation for questioning mysterious payments from the public to the police department. The lawsuit said Cooke repeatedly demanded that she fill out a background check form that requested access to her banking records, health care records, and details about any scars or tattoos among other private information.

She filed a whistleblower complaint in November 2022 and was fired in January 2023 after returning from disability leave, the lawsuit said.

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