Ex-Cop Arrested For Shooting Paintballs At Cars In 5 Bergen County Towns: Prosecutor

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — A police sergeant in Bergen County has been arrested in connection with paintball shootings in five area towns.

Anthony M. Pizzi, 30, a former police sergeant in Garfield, was charged on Friday with aggravated assault, weapons offenses, and criminal mischief.

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Pizzi had been arrested back in June in connection with a witness tampering case.

According to the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, between Sept. 18 and last Thursday, paintballs were fired at parked or moving cars in Fair Lawn, Garfield, Hasbrouck Heights, Lodi, and Wallington, all in Bergen County.

In one case, a driver was struck when a paintball sailed through her window, prosecutors said.

On Sept. 19, two cars belonging to different people were struck by paintballs in Hasbrouck Heights, prosecutors said.

On Tuesday, a paintball was fired into the open window of a moving car in Fair Lawn, striking the female driver in the head, prosecutors said. The woman was not seriously injured.

On Wednesday, more vehicles were struck in Hasbrouck Heights and in Lodi.

On Thursday, paintballs were fired at vehicles in Garfield, Hasbrouck Heights, and Wallington, prosecutors said.

Police in each of the five towns began investigating. The Prosecutor's Office then joined the investigation and reviewed surveillance video and victim statements.

Investigators determined that Pizzi was the perpetrator in all nine incidents, prosecutors said.

On Friday, detectives from the Prosecutor's Office, assisted by local police, arrested Pizzi on Route 46 in South Hackensack.

He was charged with third-degree aggravated assault, nine counts of third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, nine counts of fourth-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, and nine counts of criminal mischief, a disorderly persons offense.

Pizzi was taken to the Bergen County Jail to await a first appearance in Bergen County Superior Court, prosecutors said.