Sea Bright Police Officer Accused Of Stalking Ex-Girlfriend, Vandalism

SEA BRIGHT, NJ — A Sea Bright police officer has been arrested and charged with a series of crimes, including stalking and cyber harassment, recently committed against an ex-girlfriend, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago announced Friday.

The officer is Erich A. Bennett, 46, who lives in Sea Bright.

Bennett was arrested this past Wednesday, and is currently suspended without pay from his job with Sea Bright police.

Bennett and the victim, an adult woman, were in a brief dating relationship that the victim ended in late November 2022. On Monday, December 5, 2022, Bennett showed up unannounced to the woman’s home and threatened her with physical harm, said the prosecutor.

This prompted her to block him from contacting her electronically and to install security cameras on the exterior of her home.

Then, on Sunday, January 8, the victim began receiving harassing and threatening messages via social media from an online persona, which the investigation connected to Bennett.

The next weekend, on Saturday, January 14, as she was leaving her home, the victim noticed all four tires on her vehicle had been slashed.

She further noticed over the weekend that the side of her vehicle had been keyed, a flagpole had been torn off the front of her house, and her Ring doorbell camera and two additional security cameras had been removed from her home.

The investigation placed Bennett in the area of the victim’s residence at the suspected time of the vandalism, said the prosecutor.

The investigation further revealed that from October 2022 through January 2023, Bennett had accessed law-enforcement databases on more than 30 occasions for non-law-enforcement purposes, specifically to access personal identifying information of the victim and multiple individuals with whom she is associated.

Bennett was arrested without incident this past Wednesday and is currently in the Monmouth County Jail. The Prosecutor’s Office has filed a motion to keep him detained in jail until his first court hearing Feb. 6.

He has been charged with second-degree Pattern of Official Misconduct, two counts of second-degree Official Misconduct, two counts of third-degree Computer Theft, third-degree Criminal Mischief, third-degree Making Terroristic Threats, fourth-degree Cyber Harassment, fourth-degree Hindering Apprehension, fourth-degree Identity Theft and fourth-degree Stalking.

"The Sea Bright Police Department, from the onset of the investigation, cooperated fully with the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and supports their actions,” said Sea Bright Police Chief Brett Friedman. “We acknowledge that when incidents such as this occur, the trust bestowed to us by our residents and governing body may be called into question, but know that the Sea Bright Police Department is dedicated to providing the highest level of service to all we are called to serve.”

Anyone who has information about Bennett’s activities is being asked to contact MCPO Detective Ryan Mahony at 800-533-7443.