Asbury Park Press – by Steph Solis and Andrew Ford
WALL – A veteran state trooper whose duties included providing security at the Statehouse in Trenton faces drunken driving charges after officials said he crashed his marked police cruiser Monday afternoon in a Garden State Parkway rest area.
Sgt. First Class Michael Roadside, 51, had an open container of alcohol in his patrol car when he rear-ended a white Audi in the Monmouth Service Area near Exit 100 around 2 p.m., according to a news release Tuesday from State Police. No one was injured in the crash, described in the release as “minor,” but Roadside, a 28-year veteran, was immediately relieved of his duty weapon and taken into custody.
The release announcing the arrest noted that Roadside, who lives in Cinnaminson, had worked a construction detail before the accident; troopers very often work such “supplementary assignments” on overtime. There was no word on when he ended the assignment.
Roadside was assigned to the Statehouse Security Bureau, according to State Police Capt. Stephen Jones.
“That office manages the guards who patrol the different buildings that the state owns,” Jones said.
That bureau doesn’t include the governor’s security detail, Jones said.
The officer’s LinkedIn page said he has been assigned to Troop C, the State House Security Operations and Policing Unit, since September 2013. The page, which contains information provided by users, described his duties as including “safeguarding the security for the Governor”; managing security for all members of the governor’s staff and Legislature;and coordinating with other agencies on “issues related to security, hazardous conditions, policy and procedure.”
Roadside was charged with driving while intoxicated, careless driving and having an open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle. While the case is pending in the court, State Police officials have launched a parallel internal investigation, according to the release.
Roadside was suspended without pay. He earned $104,493 in 2014, according to public employee data.
Attempts to reach Roadside for comment were unsuccessful.
Steph Solis: 732-643-4043; ssolis@gannettnj.com
He was actually arrested and charged? Like any other person would be? Wow, the Blue Wall is going to come down hard on someone.
Stand by for news about the slap on the wrist the pig receives.
Stern reprimands will soon be forbidden.
What! They didn’t kick his azz like Rodney King on the way into the slammer?
I’m starting to think there might be some special biased treatment here.
Naaah not here in Amerika.