Brick Man Planted Bomb At St. Patrick's Day Parade, Prosecutor Says

KEANSBURG, NJ — A Brick Township man who alerted police to a suspicious device that prompted the cancellation of a St. Patrick's Day parade is accused of planting the item at the parade, authorities said Tuesday.

Christopher J. Otis, 56, was arrested Monday in connection with the incident that led to the cancellation of the parade in Keansburg on March 28, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago said.

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Otis, who is the fire safety and environmental compliance officer at Brookdale Community College in Middletown, told Keansburg police about 10:45 a.m. on March 28 that he had found a suspicious device near the beach, just off a walking path, authorities said.

Police found the device near the staging area for participants in the upcoming parade, authorities said. Police secured the area and search of the entire area and parade route with K-9 officers was conducted, authorities said.

No additional devices were found, but the parade was canceled out of an abundance of caution, authorities said.

Investigators from the major crimes bureau of the prosecutor’s office, Keansburg police and the FBI then found Otis was giving conflicting accounts of his involvement in finding the device, prosecutors said.

Otis has been charged with one count of second-degree false public alarm, third-degree possession of a destructive device, and third-degree providing false information to a police officer, the prosecutor's office said.

He is being held at the Monmouth County jail pending court proceedings, the prosecutor's office said.

Santiago and Keansburg Police Chief Sandra Burton said the FBI, the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, New Jersey State Police, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office, Middletown and Brick Township police assisted in the investigation.