NJ Cop Broke Into Ex's Home With Help From Fellow Officer, Dispatcher, Lawsuit Says

TOMS RIVER, NJ — The ex-boyfriend who was attacked at his home by a former Toms River police officer alleges she enlisted the help of a Berkeley Township police officer and a Toms River police dispatcher in the attack in a lawsuit.

Anthony Chiarello of Berkeley Township and Brianna Grochowski filed the lawsuit on Jan. 9 against Rebecca Sayegh, the former Toms River police officer who smashed the front door of Chiarello's home and attacked them on April 25.

Sayegh pleaded guilty Nov. 17 in the attack and is set to be sentenced Friday. As part of her plea, she forfeited her police department job and all future public employment in New Jersey.

Also named in the lawsuit is Kyle Huhn, a Berkeley Township police officer who was on patrol the night of the attack, and Joseph Lord, a Toms River police dispatcher, along with the Berkeley Township and Toms River Township police departments, and Berkeley Township. Huhn and Lord are no longer employed by their respective departments.

According to the lawsuit, Sayegh and Chiarello — who is a detective in the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office — had broken up two years earlier. Sayegh had learned Chiarello was in a new relationship and, he alleges, she harassed and threatened him via text messages for two weeks prior to the attack, demanding the name of his new girlfriend.

"When Mr. Chiarello refused to disclose the name, Officer Sayegh threatened him in writing stating, 'your windows are gonna get smashed in if you don’t tell me,' and that she would 'call Berkeley [PD] myself before I do it too,' " the lawsuit says. "Sayegh also threatened that she would 'have someone drive by whenever I ask to see whose at the house' and have them 'get a [license] plate.' "

Chiarello contacted Sayegh's brother and told him about her threats, and according to the lawsuit, the brother informed the Toms River Police Department about the threats, according to the lawsuit. The brother also contacted Lord, "who was actively working on duty with Sayegh at the time," the lawsuit says.

On the night of April 25, Huhn's marked Berkeley Township patrol vehicle was seen on home security footage driving past Chiarello's home twice in the span of minutes shortly before 11 p.m., according to the lawsuit.

Grochowski, a detective in the Montclair Police Department, lives in Point Pleasant and was at Chiarella's home that night, according to the lawsuit.

"Within minutes of Huhn’s second pass in the marked Berkeley PD cruiser, at around 11:04 PM, Sayegh called Ms. Grochowski on her cell phone and Ms. Grochowski did not answer," according to the suit.

Sayegh had called Lord and asked him to run the license plate and give her the information that came back, according to the lawsuit.

Sayegh showed up at the house, which is on a dead-end street at 11:16 p.m., and passed Huhn's vehicle on the way, the lawsuit says.

"When Huhn observed Sayegh’s vehicle driving towards Mr. Chiarello’s home, they exchanged words, and Huhn did nothing to stop her. Instead, he drove further away from the scene, failed to take police action, and remained parked for an extended period of time within close proximity of Mr. Chiarello’s residence," the lawsuit alleges.

Sayegh, meanwhile, grabbed her police baton and after screaming to be let in, smashed Chiarello's work-issued vehicle and demanded to be let in before smashing the glass door with the baton and forcing her way in.

Chiarello had called 911 by that point, the lawsuit said.

Sayegh attacked Grochowski and tried to strangle her, but Grochowski — who is a trained defensive tactics police officer — subdued Sayegh with a hold known as a body lock, according to the lawsuit. Grochowski suffered a cut and swelling in her right eye from Sayegh’s finger as she attempted to strangle her, the lawsuit said.

Grochowski thought Sayegh had calmed down so she released her, and Sayegh then threw a plant at Chiarello and ran upstairs, according to the lawsuit.

Huhn arrived on the scene about seven minutes after Chiarello called 911, "despite his close proximity to the premises (which can be verified with the GPS locator on Officer Huhn’s patrol car) and being in direct contact with Sayegh before she entered the residence," the lawsuit said.

Huhn did not appear to have his body-worn camera turned on because its light was off, and went inside the home to talk to Sayegh without checking to see if Chiarello and Grochowski were OK, the lawsuit said. He then spoke to Sayegh "privately for several minutes" without his camera operating, the lawsuit said.

Huhn then appeared to be allowing Sayegh to leave when other Berkeley Township police officers arrived, including Sgt. Michael Tanis, who ordered Huhn to arrest her, but Huhn refused, the lawsuit says. Huhn was later dismissed from the scene, and Sayegh was arrested.

When she was told she was being arrested Sayegh began screaming and cursing at the officers, struggling with them as they tried to arrest her. At one point she screamed she would "burn the ---- house down next, you piece of ---," which was captured on body-cam video that was later shared on YouTube.

The lawsuit alleges Berkeley Township police did not properly search Sayegh and allowed her to keep her Apple watch on while she was in the holding cell at Berkeley police headquarters, and that they did not follow proper procedures in connection with the arrest.

"Upon information and belief, Sayegh referenced several alleged affairs she was involved in with married Toms River Police Officers during booking and processing. All of this was captured, or should have been captured, by a BWC device worn by the officers," the lawsuit says.

Sayegh was later released to an in-patient mental health facility while she was awaiting trial, but the lawsuit alleges she returned before the end of the treatment and that friends sent Chiarello photos of Sayegh at local bars including one he frequented. She was barred from drinking alcohol when she was on release awaiting trial, so that was a violation of her release conditions.

Chiarello said in the lawsuit that he feared for his safety while she was released, and that Huhn continued to patrol Chiarello's neighborhood for several months because Huhn remained an on-duty police officer for Berkeley while the investigation into the incident was underway.

The lawsuit does not say when Huhn and Lord left their respective police departments.

The Toms River Police Department "was aware of Sayegh’s imminent threat of harm to Mr. Chiarello and his new relationship and was further aware of Sayegh's overall mental instability," the lawsuit said, noting she had filed a sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuit against the department months before the attack.

"Upon information and belief, Sayegh spoke openly throughout the department of her exemplified manic behavior and ultimate plans to attack Plaintiffs on numerous occasions to co-workers. Toms River PD did not address any of the threats or plans or otherwise prevent them from occurring," the lawsuit says.

"Sayegh was on extended mental health leave both prior to and at the time of the Incident and should not have been cleared for active duty; instead, she was permitted to return without being properly cleared by a psychiatrist as required," the lawsuit alleges.

Both Chiarello and Grochowski say the attack has damaged their professional careers. Chiarello was seeking promotion to sergeant but withdrew because of the legal process with the attack and Grochowski had to withdraw from leading training at a police academy because of the ongoing impact.

They also said they have been embarrassed as a result of the situation, with widespread media attention and social media postings that "although containing various opinions, heavily favors expressing slander of the Plaintiffs," the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.

Previous reporting:

• Off-Duty Toms River Police Officer Smashed Glass Door, Assaulted Pair In Home: Prosecutor
• Officer Charged In Home Invasion Threatened To Burn Down Ex-Boyfriend's Home: Report
• Officer Accused In Home Invasion Alleged Discrimination By Toms River Police Department
• Toms River Cop Accused In Attack On Ex, New Girlfriend Headed To Mental Health Facility
• NJ Cop That Broke Into Home, Attacked Ex, New Girlfriend Pleads Guilty, Loses Job