Patch- A Lakewood Township custodian has been arrested after authorities say he tipped off a drug dealer about a coming raid, authorities said Tuesday.
The arrest of Jorge L. Lopez was announced by Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato and Lakewood Chief of Police Gregory H. Meyer. The arrest stems from a March 16 incident where Lopez observed officers assembling in a township building to execute a narcotics-related search warrant, said Al Della Fave, spokesman for the prosecutor's office.
Lopez was authorized to be in the building as a township custodian; however, he was not authorized to share what he observed, but Lopez allegedly alerted his drug supplier, who was also the target of the raid, Della Fave said.
Lakewood Detective Sgt. Leroy Marshall brought the matter to the attention of the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office Internal Affairs Unit, Della Fave said, and those investigators and investigators with the OCPO High Tech Crimes Unit worked to assist Lakewood police in the investigation.
Lopez is charged with second-degree official misconduct, "for acting with purpose to obtain a benefit for himself or another, committing an act relating to his public employment but one that was not authorized," a charge approved by Senior Assistant Prosecutor William Scharfenberg.
Lopez was processed on a summons consistent with the state's Bail Reform Act and will be required to answer the charges at a future date, Della Fave said.
Lakewood Patch
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