'Pooping' Ex-Superintendent Files Suit Over Mugshot

HOLMDEL, NJ — A federal lawsuit filed by Thomas W. Tramaglini, the former Kenilworth superintendent who pleaded guilty to pooping near the track at Holmdel High School, claims members of the Holmdel Township Police Department released his mugshot to the media in a deliberate attempt to embarass him.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Trenton accuses Holmdel Patrolman Jonathan Martin of unlawfully taking the photo of Tramaglini and the department of then sharing it with media outlets "to satisfy the prurient interests of certain members of the Holmdel Township Police Department and others that they conspired with." Martin was the school resource officer at Holmdel High School. Holmdel Police Chief John Mioduszewski also is named in the lawsuit along with the entire department. Tramaglini's attorney, Matthew Adams, had previously indicated the suit would be filed. Read more: Lawyer In Pooping Scandal: Why We're Suing Holmdel Police

It says the photo of Tramaglini never should have been taken because the accusations were violations of ordinances, not criminal counts. He was issued a pair of municipal summonses on April 30, 2018, after voluntarily reporting to the Holmdel police headquarters, Adams said, and received a disorderly persons complaint — a fourth-degree offense — postmarked May 2, 2018, by mail at home.

"Defendants falsely attributed criminality to Plaintiff, by unlawfully taking and releasing Mug Shots, under circumstances in which Plaintiff was only charged with the alleged violation of non-criminal Holmdel Municipal Ordinances," the lawsuit says.

Adams said the narrative that Tramaglini was arrested was false but resulted from the release of the mugshot.

Adams also takes NJ.com to task in the lawsuit, alleging then-news director Christopher Kelly said "let’s have some fun with this[,]" as a result of the release of the booking photo.

"Multiple whistleblowers from inside NJ.com at the time have revealed that Christopher Kelly ... instructed journalists to write multiple, redundant stories lacking any news value whatsoever focusing primarily on what was depicted in the unlawfully taken and disseminated Booking Photograph," the lawsuit alleges. "Despite the resistance of many in the NJ.com newsroom, Mr. Kelly forced journalists to continue publishing Tramaglini’s Mug Shot and related stories of Tramaglini’s supposed 'arrest.' These stories ultimately fueled other national and international stories providing false and misleading information."

NJ.com is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

Adams told Patch in October that the resulting media attention led to death threats and threats of violence against Tramaglini, and his family, including his ex-wife and his elementary school-age children. Adams at the time said he received physical threats for merely representing Tramaglini.

"A man's life was destroyed over this," Adams said in a phone interview.

Tramaglini pleaded guilty to one count of defecation in public and was fined $500 fine. Holmdel police alleged human feces were found on the track and football field "on a daily basis." But Tramaglini pleaded guilty to one instance and said he has a documented medical condition that makes him have to very urgently use the bathroom when he runs.

The lawsuit says the national attention and Tramaglini's subsequent resignation as superintendent in Kenilworth mean he "will never achieve the level of compensation, benefits, and retirement pension income that he would have otherwise."

Read the lawsuit below:

Thomas Tramaglini vs Holmdel Township Police Department by Karen Wall on Scribd

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