Jersey Shore Cop Arrested and Charged with Stalking

Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago on Friday announced the arrest of a Jersey shore police officer.

46-year-old Sea Bright police officer Erich A. Bennett was charged with second-degree pattern of official misconduct, 2 counts of second-degree official misconduct, 2 counts of third-degree computer theft, third-degree making terroristic threats, fourth-degree hindering apprehension, fourth-degree identity theft, and fourth-degree stalking.

The Prosecutor stated that the officer and the alleged victim had been in a brief relationship that ended in November.  In December, he showed up at her residence unannounced and made physical threats against her.  At that point, she blocked him electronically and installed security cameras.

The Prosecutor went on to state,

Then, on Sunday, January 8, 2023, the victim began receiving harassing and threatening messages via social media from an online persona, which the investigation connected to Bennett. The next weekend, on Saturday, January 14, 2023, as she was leaving her home, the victim noticed that all four tires on her vehicle had been slashed.  She further noticed over the weekend that the side of her vehicle had been keyed, a flagpole had been torn off the front of her house, and her Ring doorbell camera and two additional security cameras had been removed from her residence. The investigation placed Bennett in the area of the victim’s residence at the suspected time of the vandalism.

An investigation led to the discovery that Bennett allegedly tapped into the official law enforcement database on at least 30 occasions between last October through January to gather information about the victim, and people connected to her.

Bennett was taken into custody and is currently housed at the Monmouth County Correctional Institution awaiting a detention trial.  That trial is scheduled for February 6th.

Sources: App.com, mcponj.org