Is this the most hated man in New Jersey right now? Carlos Luaces allegedly killed baby birds that co-workers had become attached to, with bug spray

NEW JERSEY -- The former head of the West Milford Department of Public Works appeared in municipal court on Monday to answer criminal charges that he killed two baby birds by spraying pesticide on them and their nest.

Carlos Luaces said little when he appeared before Judge Judy Accardi in Pompton Lakes Municipal Court. Following the advice of his attorney, Luaces waived his right to have the three animal cruelty charges filed against him read aloud in court, and entered a not guilty plea to each.

Luaces, who has been terminated from his $80,000-a-year job as public works director, came to court wearing a checked shirt, blue blazer and grey slacks. He kept his head bowed for much of the brief proceeding, listening intently as the judge advised him that two of three animal cruelty charges against him are third-degree crimes that carry a prison sentence of three to five years.

Given the seriousness of the charges, the judge wanted assurances that Luaces understood his rights to remain silent, to have an attorney, and to stand trial if he chooses to fight the charges.

“I understand, yes,” Luaces said in a barely audible voice.

His attorney, Gary A. Kraemer, said following the hearing that Luaces intends to contest the charges.

“He’s innocent,” Kramer said. “He didn’t kill any birds.”

Kramer also said he would ask West Milford to reinstate him as public works chief. Mayor Bettina Bieri terminated Luaces on Aug. 21, the day the Passaic County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to animals brought criminal charges against him. In a statement that night, Bieri said that although Luaces is presumed innocent until proven guilty, “his ability to lead the department has been compromised.”

The two most serious charges, knowingly poisoning an animal and knowingly poisoning an animal and causing death, are indictable offenses, each punishable by 3 to 5 years in prison and a hefty fine.

The charges are based on interviews with a half-dozen public works employees, who said Luaces first ordered them to destroy the nest by spraying it with pesticide.

The employees refused, and on July 16, Luaces allegedly took a spray can filled with pesticide and doused the nest, killing the baby chicks and destroying another egg, Purcell said.

“This was the second family of birds that had lived in the nest, and the employees had grown attached to it,” Purcell said. “They were feeding the birds strawberries and other things.”

The death of the birds left the workers distraught and clamoring for an investigation. One public works employee broke down in tears while she was being interviewed, Purcell said.

Instead of throwing the nest away, the workers stashed it so it could be used as evidence, Purcell said.

West Milford police were called in first, then the animal-protection agency and the state Department of Environmental Protection, which conducted a separate probe into illegal spraying of pesticides.
He is next due to appear in Superior Court in Paterson on Thursday for a pre-indictment proceeding.

A state judge will decide whether to refer the charges to a grand jury for indictment, or downgrade them and send the matter to the municipal court.

(NorthJersey.com - Sept 8, 2015)