Franklin Township Cop Admits To Heroin Overdose In Squad Car

FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, NJ — A Franklin Township police officer found passed out in his police cruiser while on duty this past April, overdosed on heroin, pleaded guilty last Friday, July 12 to possession of heroin and driving while intoxicated, according to the Somerset County prosecutor.

Matthew Ellery, 29, is a resident of Middlesex borough.

He will not face jail time for the crime. Instead, he must enter a five-year Somerset County Drug Court rehabilitation program as part of a plea agreement. If he fails to complete the program, he faces three to five years in prison. He was also fired from the Franklin Township police department. His license was suspended for seven months.

On April 7 of this year, at around 1 a.m., Ellery was on duty at his job as a Franklin Township police officer. The department tried to contact him over his radio, but he didn't respond, according to the prosecutor. Another officer went to Ellery's last known location and found his police cruiser in the driveway of a business on Bennetts Lane.

The responding officer, also an EMT, found Ellery unresponsive in the driver's seat. He recognized Ellery as being in an opiate overdose, pulled him out and gave him two doses of naloxone. Ellery regained consciousness. He was taken to Robert Wood Johnson Hospital to recover.

He will be sentenced August 23.