(NJ) Police chief accused of threatening wife with gun

[Nathaniel Firethorn]

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/new_jersey/6388951.htm

Posted on Sat, Jul. 26, 2003
Police chief charged with threatening wife
By Joel Bewley
Inquirer Staff Writer

The chief of the Bordentown City police force has been placed on leave after being arrested two weeks ago for allegedly threatening to use a gun to harm his estranged wife.

Chief Philip Castagna made the comment on July 8 to a mutual acquaintance, knowing it would get back to his wife, said James J. Gerrow Jr., Burlington County executive assistant prosecutor.

"He threatened to assault her with a firearm," Gerrow said.

Castagna, 42, of Burlington City, also has been charged with violating a restraining order requiring him to avoid contact with his wife, from whom he is legally separated, Gerrow said.

Gerrow would not give details of the alleged violation but said the restraining order was issued June 15.

Castagna is free on $1,500 bail. Gerrow would not say whether the case would be presented to a grand jury.

"It is under review," he said.

Neither Castagna nor his attorney, Katherine Hartman, could be reached for comment. Hartman's secretary said that she was on vacation.

Bordentown City is a historic one-square-mile town that sits atop a bluff in northern Burlington County where the Crosswicks Creek runs into the Delaware River.

A 12-member police force serves its nearly 4,000 residents. Castagna became chief in 1989 after four years as a patrol officer.

The charges against him and his future with the force will be discussed at a City Commission meeting next week, Mayor John W. Collom 3d said.

A letter was sent to Castagna earlier this week notifying him of the meeting. He was placed on administrative leave by the commission.

"Based on the investigation at the county level, there may be further action on the part of the city regarding Chief Castagna, but I am not at liberty to say," Collom said.

Castagna, a past president of the Burlington County Chiefs of Police Association, has made headlines on other occasions for positive reasons.

In 1995, he was honored for extraordinary service by the Prosecutor's Office for his part in ending a standoff with a drunken, mentally ill man who shot arrows at his girlfriend and police with a hunting bow.

One of the arrows narrowly missed Castagna's head and lodged four inches into a wooden step behind him.


Contact staff writer Joel Bewley at 609-261-0900 or [email protected].

Three guesses as to whether the Lautenberg Amendment (a) applied to Chief Castagna when his wife obtained the restraining order, and (b) whether it will now. First two don't count.

- pdmoderator

 

[Coronach]

Well, here's the deal. The Lautenburg Amendment is applicable to the police, nationwide. I know this because of what has happened to a couple of officers in my department. And if you're in the hiring process anyplace, they tell you straight up that if you have a DV conviction, you need to find another job.

If he's violating it, he ought to be in the same doodoo that the line officers, or anyone else, would to be in.

Of course, I feel the entire thing is bogus, but there is no LE exemption for it.

Mike

 

[Nathaniel Firethorn]

Mike, you speak the truth about what ought to be. But that's not always what is.

We know that the Lautenberg Amendment was not enforced here. Otherwise, where would Castagna have gotten the gun that he used to threaten his wife?

I agree that the Lautenberg Amendment is a crock. But if it's going to be enforced at all here in the Land of Lautenberg, then it should be enforced against Castagna as well as everyone else.

Again, what ought to be ain't what is.

- pdmoderator

 

[Standing Wolf]

<sarcasm> Only law enforcement officers need guns. </sarcasm>

 

[Nathaniel Firethorn]

Update: Castagna, thankfully, has at least been replaced as Chief of Police in Bordentown.

A further news article here:

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/112-07312003-134096.html

Commission suspends chief without pay
By BRIAN SCHEID
Burlington County Times

BORDENTOWN CITY — The City Commission suspended Chief of Police Philip Castagna without pay yesterday, nearly three weeks after he was arrested on charges he violated a restraining order by threatening to use a gun to terrorize his estranged wife.

Following a more than 90-minute, closed-door meeting yesterday morning, the three-member City Commis-sion decided Castagna’s suspension would be effective immediately.

"If anything, the three commissioners are very disappointed," said Commissioner James Lynch Jr., who has oversight for public safety and public affairs. "I don’t think anybody’s happy with this at all."

Castagna, 41, joined the city force in 1985 and became the state’s youngest police chief at age 28 in 1989. He did not attend the meeting. He was previously placed on paid administrative leave by the city shortly after his arrest.

Castagna’s attorney, Katherine Hartman, also did not attend yesterday’s meeting.

In a phone interview yesterday, Hartman said the suspension was unfair since Castagna had not yet been indicted on any of the charges against him. Hartman said she was "disappointed, but not shocked" by the commission’s decision.

She said it was unclear whether she would appeal the suspension.

Castagna could not be reached for comment yesterday. He said Tuesday he would be found innocent when his case was heard in court.

"I’m waiting for my day in court so the true story can be told," he said.

Castagna is scheduled to appear in family court this morning for another hearing on the restraining order, according to Burlington County Exec-utive Assistant Prosecutor James J. Gerrow Jr.

Castagna’s last known address is the Burlington City home he shared with his estranged wife. He turned himself in to Burlington City police July 12, four days after the alleged threatening incident was reported, Gerrow said.

According to Gerrow, Castagna made the threat to a mutual acquaintance Castagna and his wife both know well.

Gerrow said Castagna made the threat knowing it would be passed on to his wife.

Gerrow said that by making the threat, Castagna violated a domestic-violence protective order issued June 15 by a judge on behalf of Castagna’s wife.

Capt. Frederick Brown will serve as head of the department during Castag-na’s suspension, Lynch said.

Email: [email protected]
July 31, 2003 8:02 AM

- pdmoderator

 

[tommytrauma]

Mike, you speak the truth about what ought to be. But that's not always what is.

We know that the Lautenberg Amendment was not enforced here. Otherwise, where would Castagna have gotten the gun that he used to threaten his wife?

I agree that the Lautenberg Amendment is a crock. But if it's going to be enforced at all here in the Land of Lautenberg, then it should be enforced against Castagna as well as everyone else.

Again, what ought to be ain't what is.

- pdmoderator

It sounds like he made a comment about using a gun against his wife, rather than physically using a gun to threaten her.

 

[geekWithA.45]

Innocent till proven guilty, right?

The fact is, ANY LEO going through an acrimonious divorce is succeptible to being Lautenberged out of a job, on his estranged wife's say so.

Any domestic partner can get their SO into deep doodoo with a mere phone call.