NJ State Employee Charged With Posing An Inspector

NJ State Employee Charged With Posing As Inspector Following Hurricane Sandy

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Marcella Friedman. (Photo courtesy of the N.J. Attorney General's Office) Marcella Friedman. (Photo courtesy of the N.J. Attorney General's Office)

New Jersey's Attorney General announced Tuesday that a civilian employee of the New Jersey State Police was charged with posing as an inspector to coerce two men into giving her a generator following Hurricane Sandy.

Marcella Friedman, 49, of Oaklyn, N.J. was employed as a state police communications systems technician.  Investigators say on October 31, Friedman confronted two men who were selling generators on the side of a road in Burlington County.

Friendman was allegedly wearing a field jacket with a state police logo and carrying a police radio.  She allegedly falsely represented herself by saying she had the authority to shut down their operation if they failed to present a proper permit.  She told the men she would allow them to continue to sell their generators as long as she could have one, free of charge, investigators said.

The men gave her a 8,500-watt generator, which she allegedly gave to a relative.  Investigators say that relative then sold the generator to an unknown third party. 

Friedman was on disability leave at the time of the incident. She remains on leave.

"Our troopers and civilian employees sacrificed so much in their response to Hurricane Sandy, many working days without ever returning home," said Colonel Rick Fuentes, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police.

To see anyone abusing the State Police name for personal gain in the wake of this disaster is contemptible."

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