SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ—A retired chief of the South Plainfield Police Department (SPPD) has been placed on probation for four years after admitting to injuring a 58-year-old woman and harassing her 8-year-old grandson.

John Muller, the 73-year-old former police chief, was sentenced to a probationary term in New Brunswick on November 9 by Superior Court Judge Michael A. Toto.

“When the woman confronted Muller, he pushed her,” reads the press release. “She fell and suffered a fractured left wrist,” reads the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office (MCPO) press release.

Toto also ordered Muller to pay the woman’s medical expenses and ordered the defendant to undergo alcohol and anger management counseling.

According to NJ.com’s Brian Amaral, Muller was represented by New Brunswick attorney Joseph Benedict of the firm Benedict & Altman.

“Muller was charged after an investigation determined he was at the South Plainfield Elks Lodge on August 30, 2013 when he grabbed the child by the back of the neck and threatened him.

According to the SPPD website, Muller was the the department’s Chief from 1992 to 1996, after having served as Deputy Chief from 1985-1991.

The sentence comes almost a year after former SPPD Captain Michael Grennier was sentenced 20 years in prison for “sexually exploiting a minor.”

Muller’s sentence was imposed under a plea agreement reached with Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Russell Curley.  

Muller pleaded guilty on August 31 to a third-degree count of aggravated assault for injuring the woman, and to a petty disorderly persons offense of harassment for his treatment of the child.

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Charlie is the founder and editor of New Brunswick Today, and the winner of the Awbrey Award for Community-Oriented Local Journalism. He is a proud Rutgers University journalism graduate, a community organizer, and a former independent candidate for mayor of New Brunswick.

Charlie is the founder and editor of New Brunswick Today, and the winner of the Awbrey Award for Community-Oriented Local Journalism. He is a proud Rutgers University journalism graduate, a community organizer, and a former independent candidate for mayor of New Brunswick.