Haddonfield Deputy Mayor Jeff Kasko was arraigned on assault charges for allegedly striking a Jersey police officer with his car while the officer was investigating a collision involving Kasko and a process server who tried to deliver divorce papers to him at his home. It appears the mayor saw the process server and was running from the process server when he struck the process servers vehicle and then left the scene, which was his own house. Upon return to his home there was a police officer there which the Mayor struck with his car.
The Mayor is now charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, assault with a motor vehicle, criminal mischief, and numerous motor vehicle offenses, including reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident, and failure to report an accident. He should also be charged with felony assaulting a process server, but that has not been made law yet in New Jersey. This incident shows that we need protections for process servers so people will not try to run or assault or pull a gun, or shoot at process servers.
Kasko, a three-term commissioner, was arrested on charges that stemmed from a confrontation in front of his home with a process server, police said. A police officer was sent to his home following a report that Kasko had backed his car out of the driveway, striking a BMW that belonged to the process server. The BMW was partially blocking the driveway and sustained more than $2,000 in damage, police records show.
Kasko left the scene, and the process server called police, authorities said. Kasko was not present when police arrived but returned while Patrolman Joni Frangieh was investigating the earlier hit-and-run crash, police said.
According to the crash report, Kasko was driving “at an unsafe speed all the while, blowing the vehicle horn.” Frangieh was standing in the driveway, and raised his hands and signaled for Kasko to stop, the report said.
Kasko slowed down and the officer believed Kasko would come to a complete stop but didn’t, the report said. The officer suffered minor injuries when the mirror on Kasko’s 2012 VW Passat struck him on the hip, according to Chief Jason Cutler.
After his arrest, Kasko spent a night in the Camden County Jail and was later released.
“It’s a sad situation,” said former longtime Mayor Jack Tarditi on Tuesday. “I feel particularly sorry for his family.”
We need further protections for process servers to prevent and deter actions like this Mayor who thinks he is above the law.
Read more here. https://www.officer.com/command-hq/technology/traffic/news/21069147/new-jersey-deputy-mayor-charged-with-assaulting-police-officer-with-vehicle
