BIG BLUE

NJ cops get nearly $2.5 million payout for alleged dildo harassment 

 

By Craig McCarthy 

 

New York Post

September 29, 2020 

That’s some dil-dough!

A New Jersey borough will pay out nearly $2.5 million to a handful of cops who were allegedly harassed for more than a decade — with a large dildo, The Post has learned.

The payment settles a lawsuit filed in 2018 by five officers and a part-time employee of the Mountainside Police Department who alleged police brass and municipal officials allowed the “harassing, inappropriate and illegal conduct” by the sex toy — dubbed “Big Blue.”

Borough officials approved the $2,450,000 settlement on Sept. 18 to be split among the six employees — officers Christopher Feighner, Richard Latargia, Thomas Norton, Jeffrey Stinner and James Urban and part-timer Amy Colineri — and their attorney.

The group of police employees claims in the suit that at least one of the officers, Stinner, was tortured by the internal affairs officer Andrew Huber with the dildo “on almost a daily basis.”

“Huber would [wave] around Big Blue, throw it within the Detective Bureau, and throw it at people walking past the Detective Bureau,” the complaint reads.

In one instance, Huber hit a dispatcher in the face with the sex toy, as Officer Thomas Murphy filmed the incident and teased the man, saying, “What’s it smell like?” and “I hope it doesn’t smell like what I think it smells like,” the complaint reads.

The leadership of the small department of fewer than two dozen cops allegedly knew of the dildo debauchery that started in 2007 or 2008, the complaint says.

Police brass even went as far as bringing in an attorney to help explain to cops the issues surrounding their use of the sex toy, according to the complaint.

But the primary dildo-wielder, Huber, scoffed at the training and left the room, according to the complaint.

As part of the settlement, which will be covered by the municipality’s insurance, borough officials deny all allegations in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit led to the resignations of Chief Allan Attanasio in August 2018 and Huber. Murphy was suspended without pay after the suit was filed and is no longer listed on the public payroll.

It was unclear what discipline was imposed internally, if any, against the two cops. New Jersey does not allow the release of police disciplinary records to the public.

Neither Huber nor Murphy appears to have gotten their pension, with state records showing no payouts for the pair.

Mountainside Mayor Paul Mirabelli referred to the resolution when asked for comment.

The attorney for the police employees, Charles Sciarra, said in a brief statement, “The matter has been amicably resolved.”

The borough attorney also did not respond.