NJ Cop Who Assaulted Ex, His New Girlfriend Sentenced As Suit Looms

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A former Toms River police officer who smashed her way into her ex-boyfriend's home and attacked him and his new girlfriend has been sentenced to probation, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said Friday.

Rebecca A. Sayegh, 32, pleaded guilty to burglary, criminal mischief, and simple assault in November before Superior Court Judge Guy P. Ryan. Ryan sentenced her Friday to three years of probation along with no contact with the victims and restitution in the April 24 attack at her ex-boyfriend's home in Berkeley Township, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said. Sayegh also forfeited her job as a police officer, along with all future public employment in New Jersey.

The prosecutor's office had sought a jail sentence of 180 days.

The victims in the case, Anthony Chiarello of Berkeley Township and Brianna Grochowski of Point Pleasant, filed a lawsuit on Jan. 9 against Sayegh along with a former Toms River police dispatcher and a former Berkeley Township police officer in the incident.

Screenshots of text messages Sayegh sent to Chiarello before the attack show she threatened to ruin Chiarello's life: "You'll never live a day in peace ever again," she wrote in one of the texts.

According to the lawsuit, Sayegh and Chiarello — who is a detective in the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office — had broken up two years earlier. Sayegh had learned Chiarello was in a new relationship and, he alleges, she harassed and threatened him via text messages for two weeks prior to the attack, demanding the name of his new girlfriend.

"When Mr. Chiarello refused to disclose the name, Officer Sayegh threatened him in writing stating, 'your windows are gonna get smashed in if you don’t tell me,' and that she would 'call Berkeley [PD] myself before I do it too,' " the lawsuit says. "Sayegh also threatened that she would 'have someone drive by whenever I ask to see whose at the house' and have them 'get a [license] plate.' "

Screenshots of the text messages included in the lawsuit show Sayegh growing increasingly angry, calling Grochowski (whose name she did not know at that point) a whore, saying she didn't want Grochowski around the dog, Rookie, that still lived with Chiarello. She made multiple threats to disrupt Chiarello's life if he didn't give her the name.

"The more you avoid telling me the truth the more wound up I'm gonna get so essentially you're doing this to yourself," she wrote in a text. Chiarello contacted Sayegh's brother — who is a supervisor in another police department — and told him about her threats, and the brother informed the Toms River Police Department about the threats, according to the lawsuit. The brother also called other family members, the lawsuit says.

That enraged Sayegh, who wrote in part, "... when I find out who your little girlfriend is I'll be ruining that for you too," she wrote and threatened to list his home for sale on Zillow. "You'll never live a day in peace ever again."

On the night of April 24, Sayegh, who was off-duty, arrived at Chiarello's home at 11:16 p.m. She grabbed her police baton and after screaming to be let in, smashed Chiarello's work-issued vehicle and demanded to be let in before smashing the glass door with the baton and forcing her way in.

Sayegh attacked Grochowski and tried to strangle her, but Grochowski — who is a trained defensive tactics police officer — subdued Sayegh with a hold known as a body lock, according to the lawsuit. Grochowski suffered a cut and swelling in her right eye from Sayegh’s finger as she attempted to strangle her, the lawsuit said.

Grochowski thought Sayegh had calmed down so she released her, and Sayegh then threw a plant at Chiarello and ran upstairs, according to the lawsuit.

Kyle Huhn, who was on patrol for Berkeley Township police that night, is accused in the lawsuit of driving past Chiarello's house to get the license plate number of Grochowki's vehicle, and then sitting for several minutes nearby before responding to Chiarello's 911 call, which the lawsuit said was verified by the GPS arrived on the scene about seven minutes after Chiarello called 911, "despite his close proximity to the premises (which can be verified with the GPS locator on Officer Huhn’s patrol car) and being in direct contact with Sayegh before she entered the residence," the lawsuit said.

Huhn did not appear to have his body-worn camera turned on because its light was off, and went inside the home to talk to Sayegh without checking to see if Chiarello and Grochowski were OK, the lawsuit said. He then spoke to Sayegh "privately for several minutes" without his camera operating, the lawsuit said.

Huhn later refused to arrest Sayegh in spite of an order from his supervisor, the lawsuit said/

When Sayegh finally was arrested, she began screaming and cursing at the officers, struggling with them as they tried to arrest her. At one point she screamed she would "burn the ---- house down next, you piece of ---," which was captured on body-cam video that was later shared on YouTube.

She was charged with home invasion burglary, two counts of assault, two counts of criminal mischief, terroristic threats and resisting arrest,

Sayegh was later released to an in-patient mental health facility while she was awaiting trial, but the lawsuit alleges she returned before the end of the treatment and that friends sent Chiarello photos of Sayegh at local bars including one he frequented. She was barred from drinking alcohol when she was on release awaiting trial, so that was a violation of her release conditions.

Joseph Lord, the Toms River police dispatcher named in the lawsuit, is accused of obtaining Grochowsi's name using the license plate information. Huhn and Lord no longer work for their respective police departments.

Chiarello and Grochowski also name the Berkeley Township and Toms River Township police departments, along with Toms River Township and Berkeley Township in the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages. Neither township has responded to requests for comment.

"Upon information and belief, Sayegh spoke openly throughout the department of her exemplified manic behavior and ultimate plans to attack Plaintiffs on numerous occasions to co-workers. Toms River PD did not address any of the threats or plans or otherwise prevent them from occurring," the lawsuit says.

"Sayegh was on extended mental health leave both prior to and at the time of the Incident and should not have been cleared for active duty; instead, she was permitted to return without being properly cleared by a psychiatrist as required," the lawsuit alleges.

Both Chiarello and Grochowski say the attack has damaged their professional careers. Chiarello was seeking promotion to sergeant but withdrew because of the legal process with the attack and Grochowski had to withdraw from leading training at a police academy because of the ongoing impact.

They also said they have been embarrassed as a result of the situation, with widespread media attention and social media postings that "although containing various opinions, heavily favors expressing slander of the Plaintiffs," the lawsuit said.

Previous reporting:

• Off-Duty Toms River Police Officer Smashed Glass Door, Assaulted Pair In Home: Prosecutor
• Officer Charged In Home Invasion Threatened To Burn Down Ex-Boyfriend's Home: Report
• Officer Accused In Home Invasion Alleged Discrimination By Toms River Police Department
• Toms River Cop Accused In Attack On Ex, New Girlfriend Headed To Mental Health Facility
• NJ Cop That Broke Into Home, Attacked Ex, New Girlfriend Pleads Guilty, Loses Job
• NJ Cop Broke Into Ex's Home With Help From Fellow Officer, Dispatcher, Lawsuit Says