NEW JERSEY -- Princeton officials on Monday dismissed summonses against a local man charged with feeding deer to disrupt the annual deer cull and then abruptly suspended municipal animal control officer Mark Johnson.
Officials released no details about the reasons behind the suspension or will say if the matters were related. As an added wrinkle, Councilwoman Jo S. Butler got involved by contacting Mr. Johnson and the head of the police department about a case involving an acquaintance’s husband.
Mr. Johnson issued Edward Linky two summonses for feeding deer and interfering with an authorized bait station on Feb.8, according to copies of the complaints. The alleged incident occurred around 11 a.m. on Littlebrook Road, the same street Mr. Linky, 69, resides on, those records showed.
Police Chief Nicholas K. Sutter said Thursday that the police administrative bureau evaluated the case and concluded there was not sufficient evidence and probable cause. He said police and municipal prosecutor Reed Gusciora agreed it would not be in the interest of justice to prosecute Mr. Linky.
Those charges were dropped Monday in Princeton Municipal Court.
For his part, Mr. Gusciora said Thursday that Mr. Linky and his wife are bird lovers who were putting out birdseed at the same time that Mr. Johnson was baiting deer. He said he thinks Mr. Johnson believed it was intended to interfere with the hunt, based on past experience dealing with animal lovers who try to disrupt the annual cull.
“The homeowners were understandably upset,” Mr. Gusciora said.
He said they went to the chief saying it was a misunderstanding. “They (police) were able to re-evaluate the summons,” he said.
“From a prosecutorial standpoint, I have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt,” Mr. Gusciora continued. “So if you have a he said, she said where the animal control officer says they were interfering with my operation and the homeowner saying we were just merely feeding birds, it’s going to be a difficult case to prove.”
Mr. Johnson was placed on paid suspension Monday, the town said. He declined to comment for this story.
“At this point, I’m not at liberty to discuss (the matter) because it’s a personnel issue,” said town administrator Marc D. Dashield on Tuesday.
When asked if the suspension had to do with the Linky case, Mr. Dashield said he could not answer that at this point.
Mr. Linky, an official with the federal Environmental Protection Agency, did not return a phone call seeking comment this week.
As for Ms. Butler, she said Thursday that Mr. Linky’s wife, Anne Brener, had contacted her after the summonses were issued. Ms. Brener, the executive director of the Princeton Adult School, served on Friends of the Princeton Public Library with Ms. Butler and is an acquaintance, Ms. Butler said.
“She was upset, she wanted to let off steam,” Ms. Butler said. Ms. Butler added that people call council members for help in dealing with issues “all the time.”
“Probably” the same day that Ms. Brener called her, Ms. Butler said she contacted Mr. Johnson to find out what was going on and “get his side of the story.” She said she never asked Mr. Johnson to drop the matter.
Immediately or shortly after that call, she then contacted Chief Sutter, something she said she told Mr. Johnson she was going to do. Mr. Johnson works in police headquarters, reporting both to the municipal health department and the police.
Ms. Butler said she spoke to the chief to “seek his counsel” and be clear on what the process was. She said she did not ask the chief to reinvestigate the case.
“I needed to be reminded about what the rules were with regarding feeding deer. I just needed to review with him what happens when you get a summons,” she said. “I was just reviewing what the law is.”
Asked why she did not contact the town attorney or municipal court staff instead, Ms. Butler said she has a relationship with the chief, who declined to elaborate on what the two discussed. For his part, he said there was nothing inappropriate about her contacting him.
Mayor Liz Lempert declined this week to comment on the matter.
As an animal control officer, Mr. Johnson “investigates stray dogs and cats, animal bites, wildlife problems, and the removal of dead deer,” according to the municipal website. He has worked for the town for nearly 22 years, at a salary of $49,188.
In his absence, the town was going to use an officer from another town. Ms. Butler said Mr. Johnson was not suspended over the Linky case.
Mr. Johnson has had his share of high-profile cases in more than 20 years on the job, including the shooting of two beavers in a municipal park in 2011. The case sparked outrage and state authorities to charge him with killing the animals without a permit.
A judge, however, found that Mr. Johnson was acting within his purview as animal control officer and cleared him of any wrongdoing.
(Princeton Packet - Feb 27, 2015)
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