New Details In Man Charged With Planting Explosive At Keansburg St. Patrick's Day Parade

KEANSBURG, NJ — Patch obtained new details Tuesday afternoon about the man criminally charged with planting an explosive device along the route of the Keansburg St. Patrick's Day parade in March.

Christopher Otis, 56, a Brick resident, is the same person who first told police he found the device — a possible bomb — on the parade route that morning, March 28.

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Otis works in fire safety and prevention for Brookdale Community College; he was their Fire Safety and Environmental Compliance Officer. Also, Otis was supposed to march in the parade that day, with a group from Brookdale that marches every year.

"He was acting very suspiciously before and after the parade," said Keansburg Mayor George Hoff. "He got to the parade route very early that day, and he stayed hours after everyone else went home."

In light of his arrest, the community college placed him on an unpaid leave, and plans to fire him.

"Brookdale Community College is aware of the charges filed against an employee," said Laura Oncea, communications director at Brookdale. "We take matters of safety and public trust very seriously and are cooperating with law enforcement ... The employee was placed on administrative leave without pay immediately and the college has initiated the process of termination."

At 10:45 a.m. that day, it was Otis who first said he found a suspicious device, just off a walking path at Beachway and Bayview avenues. He found it while walking the parade route before it started, he told police.

Keansburg Police officers located the device near the staging area for parade participants.

“From what we understand, the alleged device was akin to the power of perhaps an M-80 or cherry bomb,” Otis' attorney, Robert Stahl, told NJ.com Tuesday. “It was not capable of being detonated remotely. It was turned into police and it posed no threat to the public.”

Otis is a veteran of the U.S. Navy, said his lawyer.

Several police dogs were called in, including Middletown's Police K9, which searched the entire area and parade route and found no additional explosives, said the Monmouth County Prosecutor.

The parade was still canceled that day out of an abundance of caution.

The FBI was called in. Working with the Monmouth County Prosecutor and Keansburg Police, their investigation revealed conflicting accounts from Otis about how he found the device, said Prosecutor Raymond Santiago.

Otis was arrested Monday and is 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 Keansburg St. Patrick's Day parade will not be rescheduled this year, said Mayor Hoff. However, the town will hold its annual Memorial Day parade on May 17. Hoff said the town was thinking of not holding its Memorial Day parade until police could determine who left the explosive on the parade route in March.

Keansburg Memorial Day Parade Will Happen Now That Arrest Was Made In St. Paddy's Parade (April 14)

(March 28)