NJ Police Chief Charged With Kidnapping, Suspended Without Pay

PASSAIC COUNTY, NJ — A Passaic County police chief has been suspended after being indicted on domestic violence charges, officials said.

Carmen Veneziano, the 47-year-old chief of police of Totowa, was arrested last week following an investigation into a domestic violence incident stemming from a Boston hotel in September.

According to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts, Veneziano “confined and assaulted” a woman in a Back Bay hotel room between 3:30 a.m. and 5 a.m. on Sept. 14.

A report from NJ.com says the woman is Veneziano’s ex-girlfriend, and the two headed back to New Jersey the next day after no arrests were made.

It was on Friday when the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office put out a warrant for Veneziano’s arrest. He was taken to Bergen County jail without incident and later extradited back to Massachusetts.

It was also Friday when Totowa Mayor John Coiro decided to suspend Veneziano without pay. An interim police chief will be announced soon, the mayor said.

Veneziano is expected to be arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court on Monday. He is charged with kidnapping and three counts of domestic assault and battery.