Police Officer From Keyport Arrested, Charged With Misconduct

KEYPORT, NJ — An Aberdeen police officer was arrested and charged with official misconduct after tampering with evidence, according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.

Philip M. Santiago, 34, from Keyport was charged with two counts of second-degree official misconduct, second-degree engaging in a pattern of official misconduct and two counts of fourth-degree tampering with physical evidence.

In January 2021, Santiago intentionally tampered with a law enforcement drug test that he had been ordered to take, rendering it unable to be processed, according to an investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office’s Professional Responsibility and Bias Crime Unit.

The same investigation also showed that in May 2021, while on duty, Santiago deleted a video from a cell phone belonging to a suspect who was in custody, having just been arrested by members of the Aberdeen Police Department, officials said.

The video captured the interaction between the suspect and the officers leading up to his arrest.

Santiago turned himself in on Tuesday and will have his first appearance in Monmouth County Superior Court. If found guilty, he faces a state prison term of five to 10 years, with a minimum of five full years to be served before the possibility of parole.

As of now, Santiago has been suspended by the Aberdeen Police Department due to these charges. He was sworn in as a police officer in 2018, after having served as an emergency dispatcher in Aberdeen.