TRENTON
- Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal
Justice Director Gregory A. Paw announced
that a former New Jersey State Parole Board
officer has been indicted by a state grand
jury on charges stemming from a shooting
in a Monmouth County restaurant.
According
to Director Paw, Mark Lucia, 35, of Tinton
Falls, was charged with second-degree official
misconduct as well as one count each of
second-, third- and fourth-degree aggravated
assault. The indictment was handed up in
Superior Court late Friday.
The
indictment alleges that on the evening of
April 15, 2007, Lucia, who was a District
Supervisor/Lieutenant at the New Jersey
State Parole Board, got into a verbal and
physical altercation with a waiter at Posilipo’s
restaurant in Asbury Park. The indictment
charges that, following the altercation,
Lucia picked up his Glock 27 .40 caliber
semiautomatic pistol and aimed it at the
waiter. According to the indictment, the
gun went off, striking the waiter and two
other Posilipo employees.
Deputy
Attorney General Jennifer Gottschalk and
the Attorney General’s Shooting Response
Team coordinated the investigation. Gottschalk
presented the case to the state grand jury.
The
indictment, which was handed up to Superior
Court Judge Linda R. Feinberg in Mercer
County, is merely an accusation and the
defendant is presumed innocent until proven
guilty. Second-degree crimes carry a maximum
sentence of 10 years in state prison and
a $150,000 fine; third-degree crimes carry
a maximum sentence of five years in state
prison and a $15,000 fine; and fourth-degree
crimes carry a maximum of 18 months in state
prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
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