NJ School board member arrested after impersonating a cop on New Year’s Day
Millville NJ January 9 2019
A school board member is accused of impersonating a police officer and resisting arrest during a New Year’s Day incident in Millville.
Police responded to BoJo’s Ale House shortly before 1 a.m. on Jan. 1 for a report of a fight and found several people standing outside of the establishment on High Street.
As officers spoke with people at the scene, a man, later identified as Millville school board member Robert W. McQuade, took off running, police said.
An officer ran after him, identifying himself as a cop and ordering McQuade to stop. He didn’t stop until the officer eventually tackled him, according to the affidavit of probable cause.
As the officer tried to handcuff him, McQuade pulled his arms away and reached into his right pocket as he yelled “I’m an off-duty retired Millville Police Department officer,” police said.
McQuade explained that his ID was in his pocket and presented a Millville Police Department badge and photo identification denoting his special officer status. He also had a department hat in his possession.
McQuade, 53, told the officer that he ran because he was trying to apprehend someone involved in the fight at BoJo’s. The officer didn’t see anyone else as he pursued McQuade, according to Lt. Ross Hoffman, spokesman for the police department.
Officers investigated and learned that McQuade “was in fact not an off-duty or retired Millville Police Department Officer.”
He had served as a Special 1 Officer many years ago, but was never reinstated, according to police.
As the fight broke out in front of BoJo’s, witnesses reported that McQuade pulled up in his truck, parked in the middle of High Street and identified himself as a police officer before running from the scene.
McQuade was charged with impersonating a police officer, resisting arrest by force and flight, and disorderly conduct, and released pending a Feb. 14 court date.
As for the credentials McQuade showed officers, those are usually returned to the department once a special officer’s service ends, Hoffman explained. It’s not clear why McQuade still had his, but the badge, ID and even the hat were confiscated when he was arrested.
Efforts to reach McQuade for comment were unsuccessful.
Special officers, who serve one-year appointments, do not have police powers when off duty, the arresting officer noted.
Millville employs special officers to assist full-time police with various tasks, including crowd control, court security and enforcing city ordinances, according to the city website.
McQuade is serving his second term on the city school board.
On his LinkedIn page, he describes himself as a product developer and part-time security officer who previously held a position as a civil engineer for the 177th Fighter Wing in Atlantic City.
