CEO Arrested After Police Standoff At Colts Neck Estate

COLTS NECK, NJ — A man who founded a Bell Works-based technology firm and is a respected business leader in Monmouth County barricaded himself in his Colts Neck estate Tuesday night. The incident led to a standoff with Colts Neck police and the Monmouth County SWAT team, according to Colts Neck police.

Brian Ignomirello, 46, was arrested Tuesday night on outstanding arrest warrants and a violation of a restraining order, said a spokesman for the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office. Before he was arrested, Ignomirello led police on a standoff Tuesday evening at his Colts Neck home on Mockingbird Drive, an area of lavish, multi-million-dollar homes. It is not clear how long that standoff lasted.

But the situation was intense enough that the Monmouth County SWAT (Monmouth County Emergency Response Team) team was called in, according to Colts Neck police.

In a Facebook post, Colts Neck police said the suspect may have been armed, but Ignomirello did not have a weapon, his attorney, Mitchell Ansell, with Ansell, Grimm & Aaron in Ocean Township, told Patch on Wednesday.

"Brian was not charged with any new offenses last night. He surrendered to police," said Ansell. "And I would not use the word 'standoff' to describe what happened last night."

Ignomirello was ultimately arrested without injury to himself or responding officers.

Ignomirello was arrested earlier this year on charges of domestic assault; he is accused of assaulting his girlfriend, whom he lives with, on May 6 of this year. He punched her in the face, giving her a black eye, and kicked her in the back, legs and under her jaw, she said. According to the Asbury Park Press, which reported the arrest, Ignomirello's girlfriend filed a restraining order against him about five years ago, but had it lifted. He was arrested May 8 after the alleged May 6 incident.

"We have defenses to those charges and Brian looks forward to being exonerated in a court of law," said his attorney. "We believe he'll be eventually exonerated."

Ignomirello founded Symbolic IO, a data-storage system that operates out of Bell Works in Holmdel and employs about 30 people. He was also recently recognized as one of the Jersey Shore's top technology innovators as part of the Asbury Park Press' Small Business Innovator of the Year program.

Symbolic IO is buzz-worthy, generating $12.7 million in venture capital and start-up funding before they have yet to even make a profit.

A woman who answered the phone at Symbolic today said the company was not releasing any statement on their CEO's arrest.

The prosecutor's spokesman refused to release any further details about Tuesday night's arrest because it is related to a domestic violence situation.

Photo: A view down Mockingbird Drive in Colts Neck/Google Earth images