Middletown BOE Member Fitzgerald Out Of Jail On Pre-Trial Monitoring

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — Middletown school board member Joe Fitzgerald, arrested last week and charged with six counts of illegal gun crimes, was released from the Monmouth County jail on Wednesday.

He had been held there since he was arrested last Monday.

Fitzgerald was released from police custody on Level III pretrial monitoring, with conditions including that he is barred from possessing any weapons, and a judge ordered him to surrender his firearms purchaser ID card to police, a spokesman for the Monmouth County Prosecutor said Wednesday.

Fitzgerald, 47, is also ordered not to have any contact with the alleged victim.

Fitzgerald was arrested after police received a 911 call that Fitzgerald was headed to another person's house to engage in an altercation with that person. The caller told police he had weapons in his car. When Middletown Police stopped his car at about 5 p.m. June 30, he consented to a search of the vehicle and police say they found three weapons inside: A Ruger LCP .380 handgun, a spring projectile gun and a stun gun in the shape of brass knuckles, with a Taser component.

He could not provide registration paperwork for the handgun, said police.

Due to the criminal charges against him, and their serious nature, Fitzgerald was temporarily suspended from the Middletown Board of Education. This was announced Tuesday by the Middletown school board lawyer, who said he was informed by the New Jersey Department of Education that Fitzgerald must be temporarily suspended. His seat is up for re-election this November, and Fitzgerald said he intended to run again.

There is body-camera footage of Fitzgerald's arrest. However, Middletown Police said Wednesday they will not be releasing the body-camera footage because it is part of the ongoing criminal case.

From the criminal complaint, here are the three weapons Middletown Police say they found in his car, and the six criminal charges filed against him that are associated with them:

• An unregistered firearm, specifically a Ruger LCP .380 caliber, without a permit to carry, a second-degree crime.
• An unregistered firearm (the Ruger handgun) to use unlawfully against another person, a second-degree crime.
• A spring gun capable of firing a projectile smaller than 3/8 inch, capable of causing injury to a person, a third-degree crime.
• A spring gun capable of firing a projectile smaller than 3/8 inch, capable of causing injury to a person, a third-degree crime.
• An impact stun gun shaped as brass knuckles with a Taser component, a third-degree crime.
• He was also charged with having the stun gun under circumstances not appropriate for lawful use, a fourth-degree crime.

Joe Fitzgerald Suspended From Middletown School Board Due To Criminal Charges (Tuesday)

Middletown BOE Member Charged With Gun Crimes Was Headed To Argue With Another Person, Police Say (Monday)

Middletown School Board Member Fitzgerald Will Have First Court Hearing Wednesday (Monday)

Middletown School Board Member Joe Fitzgerald Arrested On Illegal Gun Charges (July 1)