Borough officer faces felony charges

The charges brought against him are two counts of third-degree computer criminal activity, two counts of third-degree unlawful access and disclosure of computer data, and two counts of second-degree official misconduct. Riley is pleading not guilty.

The incident allegedly occurred in January 2008. Riley is accused of accessing recordings made by a Mobile Vision Recorder and sharing the recordings with two other Borough Police officers, Sgt. Kevin Creegan and Patrolman William Perez, without having appropriate authorization.

According to the Princeton Packet and The Times of Trenton, the video footage showed another officer allowing a man whom he was in the process of arresting for drunk driving to urinate in a bush.

Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office spokeswoman Casey DeBlasio said in a statement that Riley showed the recording in question with the purpose of damaging the arresting officer’s standing in the department. DeBlasio’s statement also alleges that Riley lied when asked about why he accessed the database.

In an interview, Jeffrey Garrigan, Riley’s lawyer, said that his client “was trying to locate the footage because the original officer involved in the stop was not able to locate it.”

He added that the arresting officer was aware that Riley was accessing the footage. Garrigan said he believes that the actions taken by the Borough Police were instead political in nature.

“When and if this case gets to trial, there is certainly going to be significant evidence that the chief and some of his underlings were out to get my client,” he said.

In addition, the Trenton Times reported that, according to unnamed law-enforcement sources, Riley was trying to access the tapes to show that Borough Police Chief Anthony Federico gave out unequal punishment to the officer in the video and an officer involved in a separate but similar incident.

In the other incident, which according to the Times occurred last year, “officer Adam Basatemur was suspended for 60 days after telling a woman he pulled over for speeding in April that if she had to go to the bathroom, as she repeatedly asked, she could go behind a nearby tree.”

The female motorist “filed a civil rights suit against the department in connection with the incident” last month, the Times reported.

Borough Police Lt. David Dudeck referred all inquiries to the prosecutor’s office and declined to answer any questions.

Prior to the indictment, Riley, Creegan and Perez were the subject of an internal Borough Police investigation into the incidents. The investigation began in February 2008 and resulted in the department suspending the three officers with pay in March. Riley insisted on his innocence during the internal investigation.

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These internal findings were then presented to a Mercer County grand jury, who returned the indictment against Riley.

“The grand jury found there was evidence to charge Sgt. Riley, and the grand jury found that there was insufficient evidence to charge everyone else,” DeBlasio said in an interview.

Since his indictment on Friday, however, Riley has been stripped of his pay, which amounts to $103,706 annually, including salary and a longevity bonus, according to the Times.

According to the Borough Police website, Creegan has served as an officer since 1989 and was named Officer of the Year in 2004. Perez is an 11-year Borough Police veteran. Neither was indicted by the county grand jury, but the two could still face municipal or internal Borough Police charges.

Within the next 30 days, Riley will be assigned a court date to appear before state Superior Court and be arraigned by a judge, DeBlasio said.

This is not the first accusation of improper politically motivated action within the Borough Police Department.

In February of this year, an unfair practices complaint was filed against the Borough Police Department by the Policeman’s Benevolent Association (PBA) of Princeton Borough Local #130, which is the union that represents patrol officers and sergeants who work for Princeton Borough.

The complaint was filed with the state’s Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC), which deals with labor relationships between public employers and employees. It alleged that the Borough Police treated employees who were also PBA Local #130 union members unfairly, in particular employees who were on the PBA Local #130 executive board.

The Princeton Packet reported that the unfair practices complaint was filed a month before the charges against the three officers were filed. The inquiry into the complaint was closed in April after an agreement was reached between the parties.

“The parties seem to have reached a resolution of the dispute on their own and signed a document to that effect,” said Jonathan Roth, PERC’s deputy director for unfair practices and representation.

Perez and Creegan both hold leadership positions in PBA Local #130. Perez is the vice president of PBA Local #130, and Creegan is a trustee.