Ocean County Man Indicted On Bias Charge, Accused Of Carving Swastika Into Neighbor's Lawn

An Ocean County man has been indicted on a charge of bias intimidation, after he allegedly carved a swastika into a neighbor’s lawn and directed anti-gay and anti-semitic comments at them, according to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.

Scott Cooney, 45, of Lakewood, was indicted Dec. 17 with one count of bias intimidation in the fourth degree, said Al Della Fave, spokesman for the prosecutor’s office.

Cooney’s neighbors told police that he had verbally harassed and threatened them over the course of several months, using anti-gay and anti-semitic language. On Aug. 10, they alleged that he was in their front yard using what appeared to be a lead pipe to carve something into their lawn. The victims, not wanting to provoke a confrontation, stayed in their home. After Cooney left, they went out to see that he had carved a swastika into the lawn, Della Fave said.

The victims took a photograph and contacted township police. Lakewood Detective Leroy Marshall conducted the investigation that led to his arrest three days later, and his Dec. 17 indictment by the grand jury.

On Friday, a Little Egg Harbor Township man pleaded guilty to a fourth-degree count of bias intimidation and a count of resisting arrest, Della Fave said.

David Smith III, 25, of Little Egg Harbor admitted to using racial slurs in a 2012 incident in front of his home. Smith made the racial slurs toward an African-American man who was walking past his home, which resulted in a physical altercation between the two and then with police when they arrived, Della Fave said.

Smith is facing up to 270 days in the Ocean County Jail, with probation, anger management, substance abuse counseling and community service. His sentence is pending.

Both cases are being prosecuted by Assistant Prosecutor Heidi Tannenbaum-Newman.