Middletown Township Settles Lawsuit Over Teen's Water Gun Arrest

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — Middletown Township agreed to settle a lawsuit with a woman who sued the police department and some of its employees after she alleged a deputy police chief improperly used his position to arrest and detain her 14-year-old son after he shot the police officer's son with a water gun.

Lisa Cordova of Middletown initially demanded $5 million in her suit. She alleged former Middletown Deputy Police Chief John Kaiser misused his police power to arrest her teenage son after he shot Kaiser's son with a toy water gun. Middletown Township agreed to settle with Cordova for $85,000, paying her that amount to resolve the case out of court, said Brian Nelson, Middletown's Township attorney.

Kaiser, a longtime Middletown Police Department employee, retired last week, effective Sept. 1. He had been on a paid leave before his retirement, where he was paid his base salary of $184,922 for multiple months of not working. Just before his retirement, his leave was unpaid.

Kaiser retired last Monday after being employed by Middletown Township for 28 years; he was first hired by the Township in 1997. Upon his retirement, he will be paid a compensated absence benefits package totaling $172,094, according to town records.

The lawsuit, filed in July 2024, also named Middletown Police Chief R. Craig Weber, multiple unnamed officers in the Middletown Police Department and the Monmouth County Prosecutor, although Cordova later dropped her complaint against the county prosecutor.

According to Cordova's lawsuit, on July 28, 2022, her son was playing with his toy water blaster with other boys in an unnamed Middletown park. The water gun had frozen orb balls in it, which he shot at the deputy chief's son.

"(The boy) went home and informed his father, John Kaiser, the deputy chief of the Middletown Township Police Department, of the above activities," read her lawsuit. "Kaiser, at the time off duty from his law enforcement job, raced to the park in his official Middletown Township Police Department undercover vehicle and commenced off-duty action in unlawfully detaining (the teen) against his will and seizing the toy water blaster."

Cordova said Kaiser detained her son, searched him and then forcefully handcuffed him behind his back and took him to Middletown Police headquarters for interrogation.

Cordova's lawyer said Kaiser's treatment of the teen violated standard operating procedures for the arrest of a juvenile.

"Upon arrival at the Middletown Township Police Department, (the teen) was brought into the station and told to stand his face pressed against a hardened surface," read the lawsuit. "(He) was not offered an opportunity to use the bathroom facilities, not offered any water or any other food, nor was (he) asked about his medical, physical or mental well-being by the defendants."

Cordova said she immediately arrived at the Middletown Police station and demanded to speak with her son, and was informed he was being interviewed by Middletown Police.

Several hours later, the 14-year-old was released to his parents.

On Aug. 4 of that same year, the teen's father, Alejandro Cordova, filed a formal complaint against Middletown Police for the treatment of his son during the arrest.

Criminal charges were filed against Cordova's son: On Aug. 17 of that year, the 14-year-old was charged with two counts of assault, one count of possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and one count of unlawful possession of a weapon.

The teen pleaded guilty in a juvenile delinquency proceeding.

Cordova's lawyer said Kaiser and other Middletown Police officers "unlawfully used their police powers to execute some form of punishment against (the teen) for his use of a toy water blaster involving Deputy Chief Kaiser's son." The family also alleged their son was arrested because of his Hispanic ethnicity.

Middletown Township did not admit any wrongdoing in the $85,000 settlement.

In his response to the lawsuit, Kaiser denied nearly all the allegations Cordova made against him. He only admitted he did "respond" to the incident in the park that day.

Kaiser's lawyer was Michael Collins of Red Bank. Neither he, nor Kaiser, nor Cordova's lawyer, Hugo Harmatz of Colts Neck, commented for this story.