Seaside Official Suspended From Job After Accident Cover-up

SEASIDE HEIGHTS, NJ — Todd M. Genty, the borough's Parking Authority director, has been suspended without pay from his job after he was charged with striking a bicyclist with a borough vehicle and then trying to cover up the incident, according to app.com.

Borough Attorney George R. Gilmore confirmed that Genty had been suspended from his $90,204 job.

Genty, 54, is also the president of the Seaside Heights Board of Education.

His suspension stems from a Jan. 19 accident in the borough when Todd C. Lay, 66, told police he had been hit by a Seaside Heights vehicle, Al Della Fave, spokesman for the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office, has said.

Lay told police he was riding his bicycle north on the Boulevard about 3 p.m. when he was hit at the corner of Dupont Avenue, Della Fave said.

He was knocked to the ground, then approached by the vehicle's driver, who yelled at him, called him drunk and said the collision was Lay's fault.

Lay said the driver allegedly agreed to "make things right" by giving Lay cash and replacing his damaged bicycle, Della Fave said.

Lay, who complained of pain in the back of his head and was examined at Seaside Heights police headquarters by the Tri-Boro First Aid Squad, told police the driver never called for assistance and never asked if Lay needed any first aid, he said.

Lay declined to be taken to a hospital for further treatment, Della Fave said. Lay told police his bicycle was put up against a wall and both men left the scene.

Seaside Heights Patrolman Chris Linnell confirmed Lay's version of the accident and determined that the vehicle was assigned to and being driven by Genty. He also found that Genty never reported the incident by radio or phone, Della Fave has said.

Genty replaced Lay's damaged bicycle with a bicycle taken from the police department's temporary evidence/property area, Della Fave said.

Lay positively identified a photo of his bicycle that was damaged during the accident, and a photo of a bicycle that he found when he returned home after the collision, Della Fave said. The replacement bicycle was confirmed to be a bicycle that had been in the police department's temporary evidence/property area, he said.

Seaside Heights Police Chief Thomas Boyd turned the investigation over to the Prosecutor's Office to avoid any conflict of interest and for further review.

Genty was then charged with witness tampering and evidence tampering, as well as failure to stop, leaving the scene of an accident and failure to report an accident, charges approved by Senior Assistant Prosecutor William Scharfenberg, Della Fave said.

Photo: Courtesy of the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.