Old Bridge Zoning Board Member Threatened To Call ICE On Tree Workers

OLD BRIDGE, NJ — A member of the Old Bridge Zoning Board threatened to call U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on tree maintenance workers who were blocking her driveway.

This happened in November, but it was first reported by NJ.com Wednesday.

The member of the Old Bridge Zoning Board is Patricia Testaverde. According to this Old Bridge Police body camera footage that was published on Reddit, two Old Bridge Police officers responded to her home on Nov. 5. Here is the full, 15-minute body camera footage from the police that day: https://bit.ly/patty-unbalanced

The police were called there because Testaverde was involved in a dispute with lawn workers who were removing a tree from the yard of her immediate next-door neighbor.

According to NJ.com, their truck was blocking part of Testaverde's driveway, and she started arguing with the workers. The company's owner, Peter Siello of General Tree Experts, based in Englishtown, responded to the scene, and Testaverde told him she was going to call ICE on his employees.

It was Siello who then called Old Bridge Police.

Testaverde is heard telling the police she said she was going to call ICE.

"I'm gonna call ICE on you for these guys. So guess what he did, he called you guys," Testaverde is heard saying in the police body-camera footage.

"OK," the officer responds.

Testaverde then mentioned she "was going to wait for the Councilwoman to call me back," and she also told the officers she was going to "wait for your chief to call you."

"OK, well our chief is not going to call us over a neighbor dispute," the officer told her.

Testaverde did not want to give her name when the officers asked for it for a report.

"Apparently, she knows the chief, the councilwoman and uh, she's threatening Owen Henry (referring to former Old Bridge Mayor Owen Henry, a Republican)," one officer is heard saying. "Well, Owen Henry’s not the mayor, so, doesn’t matter.”

This week, Testaverde confirmed to NJ.com reporter AJ McDougall that yes, she did threaten to call ICE on the workers. She said she was expecting contractors for a bathroom renovation, and they were blocking her driveway.

"I had no access to my driveway. They wouldn’t get off my front lawn. None of them. They all spoke broken English,” Testaverde told NJ.com.

After the article was published on NJ.com, this petition was launched Wednesday, calling for Testaverde to be removed from her appointed position on the Old Bridge Zoning Board. Testaverde was not elected to the Old Bridge Zoning Board; she was appointed by the town council in 2022. Owen Henry was Old Bridge mayor at the time; Henry is now a state Senator representing the Old Bridge area in Trenton.

Testaverde told Patch Wednesday she is being "smeared" and that she "was a victim that day."

"While I gave that nj.com reporter my time, was on the phone with her a good 45 minutes. She did me so wrong with her report," Testaverde told Patch. "People have no idea who I am, I guess I don’t have an opinion. I did nothing wrong. They smeared me in a bad way and they get away with it. I was a victim that day. I did nothing wrong. I was upset."

"They are smearing me, calling me a bigot, it’s just so wrong," Testaverde continued. "Just by your questioning, I could see it’s a smear campaign. It’s just not right."

She also said "I got 23 stitches that day because of these people on my property," but she did not elaborate.

Testaverde, 64, is a retired New York City police officer who lives in Old Bridge.

General Tree Experts did not return a call for comment.