State Suspends Manchester Youth Baseball Coach Accused In Robbery

MANCHESTER, NJ — A youth baseball coach from Manchester has been suspended from his job with the state of New Jersey following his arrest on charges that he robbed a bank to repay funds he allegedly took from the team he coached.

Michael J. Walters, 52, was arrested Thursday night and charged with second-degree robbery, theft by deception, and writing bad checks, and is being held in the Ocean County Jail, according to news releases from the Berkeley and Manchester police departments. Police allege he was driving a vehicle belonging to the state Division of Child Protection and Permanency at the time of the bank robbery.

Late Friday, the state Department of Children and Families issued a statement on Walters' arrest, saying he had been suspended from his position as an assistant family service worker, pending the outcome of the criminal investigation.

"DCF staff are held to a high standard of personal and professional behavior and values," Commissioner Christine Beyer said. "The allegations against Mr. Walters are very serious, but thankfully, very rare among our staff of 6,600 honest and hard-working employees."

Beyer said the department is cooperating with law enforcement in the matter.

Walters, of Pine Lake Park, is accused of taking $6,500 from the youth travel baseball team where he was head coach and team manager, Manchester Capt. Todd Malland said.

Berkeley Township Police Chief Karin DiMichele said he is accused of robbing the Santander Bank on Jamaica Boulevard in Berkeley to repay the funds.

Representatives of the youth baseball team where Walters was the head coach told Patch they had learned funds were missing from the team's bank account in January, when they were contacted by a woman who had won a fundraiser contest and hadn't received her winnings.

After receiving a follow-up complaint from the woman, they confronted Walters. "He broke down and told us," one of the representatives said. A team meeting was held and Walters was given a deadline to repay the funds, the representative said, with the understanding they would involve police if that did not happen.

That deadline was March 20, the representative said. When Walters did not return the funds, they contacted Manchester police. Malland said Patrolman Marc Micciulla and Detective Richard Jupinka were investigating the case and charged Walters with one count of theft by deception in excess of $6,500 and one count of issuing a bad check in excess of $500.

DiMichele said police connected Walters to the bank robbery fairly quickly.

She said the robbery was reported at 3:40 p.m. Thursday. Police were told a masked assailant wearing dark clothing entered the bank, handed the teller a note and demanded money. The man received an undisclosed amount of cash and quickly ran off toward the north end of the Mini-Mart Plaza 1. There was no weapon shown and no injuries. There was no vehicle seen, and the man was heavily disguised, she said.

As Berkeley police were searching the area around the bank and canvassed the neighborhood, they found several homes had doorbell cameras and surveillance equipment.

"Detectives were able to locate a suspect vehicle on video, which was parked a distance away from the mall in an attempt by the suspect to thwart detection," DiMichele said.

As Berkeley police investigated, Manchester police contacted Berkeley and told them Walters had come into the Manchester police department and said he "had come into a large amount of cash" and used it to repay the missing $6,500, DiMichele said.

Berkeley detectives compared surveillance footage with Walters and his vehicle — a New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency vehicle — which was at the Manchester Township Police Department. The vehicle was an exact match to the one in the video, DiMichele said. A search of the car turned up items used in the robbery and that were directly connected to Walters, she said, and money taken from the bank also was recovered.

Walters received a salary of $65,000 including overtime in 2017, according to the listing in Datauniverse records maintained by the Asbury Park Press.

"It's really unreal," said Bill Post, one of the coaches. The spring season for the team of 11-, 12-, and 13-year-olds is in jeopardy because they do not have the money to pay for tournament fees and league registration and equipment, he said.

"We set this up as a fundraising team because we didn't want parents to have to pay everything," Post said.

"These boys have been saving for two years for these tournaments," another parent who contacted Patch said. "That's the sad part. They worked for it."

Malland said the investigation is continuing and additional charges are possible. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Richard Jupinka at 732-657-2009, ext. 4206. If you would like to remain anonymous you can submit a tip by clicking here.

DiMichele said the cooperation between the Manchester and Berkeley police departments and the availability of the surveillance videos led to the quick arrest.

Berkeley Township Detective Michael Tier, assisted by Detective Lieutenant Peter La Rocca, Detective Joseph Santoro, Detective Michael Riccardelli, Detective William Somers, Detective Michael O’Connor, Detective Shawn Bowens and first responding officers Nicholas Bondulich and Joshua Foca. Berkeley Patrol response was led by Lt. Ryan Roth, Lt. Philip Smith, Lieutenant Michael Roth and Lieutenant Brian Woermer.

The Ocean County Sheriff’s Department CSI and K-9 assisted in scene processing and the Toms River Police Department all assisted. The FBI Red Bank Office also responded to assist detectives working the investigation.

Note: This article has been updated with comment from the Department of Children and Families.

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