MOUNTAINSIDE, NJ — Days after two Mountainside police officers were put on administrative leave following an explosive lawsuit, the chief has also been placed on leave, sources confirm.
Police Chief Allan Attanasio was placed on paid leave as of Sunday, according to Mountainside Mayor Paul Mirabelli.
Attanasio joins officers Andrew Huber and Thomas Murphy, who had been placed on paid-leave since last week after a lawsuit was filed by several of their coworkers accusing them of crude misconduct going back decades.
Lt. Joseph Giannuzzi has been put in charge of the police department during the borough’s internal review of the lawsuit.
Additionally, Mirabelli and the council announced that the Union County Prosecutor’s Office have opened a new investigation into the allegations named in the lawsuit.
“At this time, we ask for your patience as we complete our investigation and we cooperate with the Union County Prosecutor in their investigation,” a statement from the borough read.
It also alleges that Attanasio knew of this activity, took no corrective action and even participated.
In May 2016, Huber allegedly chased Mountainside Fire Chief Anthony Pecorelli around police headquarters with Big Blue; Police Chief Allan Attanasio shouted “get him” and “put it in his mouth” while Murphy recorded it, according to the lawsuit.
A video of Huber smacking a dispatcher with the dildo was obtained by NJ.com. You can see it here.
The lawsuit claims Murphy would ram his flashlight in other officers’ rear areas, and that he also exposed his testicles, even putting them on other officers’ food and drinks. He would take photographs of his testicles on other people’s objects in the department, the lawsuit says.
Murphy also allegedly made inappropriate comments to Colineri, including that he wanted to impregnate her and that he could “help” her have a baby, according to the complaint. In another instance, he allegedly asked her where she lived so he could look in her windows. He made repeated comments about wanting to see her in a bathing suit, the complaint says.
The inappropriate conduct went beyond crude sexual behaviors, according to the lawsuit.
In 2011, Huber and then-Lt. Chief Allan Attanasio, made a false report of an “officer in need of assistance” in which they claimed a Mountainside Police Officer was trapped and cornered in the basement of a Scotch Plains bar. When Berkeley Heights Police arrived, Huber used his universal key to unlock and steal the police car.
Mountainside Police administration was made aware of that incident, but nothing was done to either Huber or Attanasio, the complaint states.
Further, until about 2013, Huber allegedly forwarded pornographic, racial and racist emails from his Mountainside Police Department email account to other department officers, including current chief Attanasio, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit goes on to say that “corruption is strongly rooted in Mountainside and internal complaints to the mayor, borough council and administrator would not be effectively and appropriately addressed.”
“We want to assure all residents that we are carefully evaluating all the issues that have come to light and will take all appropriate action that the facts dictate,” according to the borough’s statement on Sunday.