Middletown Twp. Committee Candidate Charged In 2004 With Theft, Forgery

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — One of the two Democrats running for Middletown Township Committee this year has a criminal record that includes charges of forgery and theft, according to Arizona criminal court records.

The candidate is Nicholas Babcock, who is running alongside Rocky Rios on the Democratic ticket for two Middletown Township Committee seats. The Democrats are running against Republicans Tony Perry (the current Middletown mayor) and Kimberly Kratz.

Babcock declined to answer any questions specifically about his arrest. He did tell Patch that he tried to drop out of the race, citing health reasons, and is awaiting the results of the background check Middletown Democrats ran on him.

A search of Arizona criminal court records show that Babcock was arrested in Maricopa County, Arizona in 2007 and charged with multiple counts of forgery, theft and possession of a forgery device. The crimes occurred in 2004, said the county sheriff, but he was arrested and booked in 2007. They were felony charges, according to the courts.

Babcock pleaded guilty to theft and felony criminal possession of a forgery device.

He was ordered to pay $1,296 in restitution to Bank of America and $459 to Qwest, a Southwest telecommunications company. It does not appear he served jail time and was instead sentenced to two years of probation.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office provided a mugshot of Babcock, above. You can see a picture of the candidate here for comparison: 4 Candidates For Middletown Township Committee; 4 For BOE

When first asked last week, Mike Morris, chair of the Middletown Democratic Party, initially said there were two different Nick Babcocks.

But when Morris was shown the mugshot, Morris said: "He was not 100 percent honest with us and we'll be dealing with it. He is still telling us it wasn't him."

He also said the Middletown Democratic Party is still awaiting the results of a fingerprint and criminal background check it ran on Babcock.

Babcock said he tried to withdraw as a candidate in the Middletown Township Committee race as early as Sept. 10, citing health issues. Babcock said the Middletown Democratic Party would not accept his resignation.

Morris said he told Babcock, "it was too late, the ballots already went out," and since then he said Babcock has been "campaigning enthusiastically."

His name will appear on the ballot Nov. 2 and it will also appear on the mail-in ballots.

A further search of court records showed that Babcock also filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in New Jersey in 2019.

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Contact this Patch reporter: Carly.baldwin@patch.com.