Seaside Heights Parking Officer Accused Of Bike Crash Cover-Up

SEASIDE HEIGHTS, NJ — The parking enforcement supervisor in Seaside Heights Police Department is facing multiple charges after authorities say he hit a bicyclist while on duty and then tried to cover up the accident.

Todd M. Genty, 54, of Seaside Heights, was charged in connection with a Jan. 19 accident in the borough, Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato and Seaside Heights Police Chief Thomas Boyd said in a joint news release announcing Genty's arrest.

Robert C. Lay, 66, of Seaside Heights went to police headquarters about 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 19 and reported he had been hit by a borough-owned vehicle, said Al Della Fave, spokesman for the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.

Lay told police he was riding his bicycle north on the Boulevard about 3 p.m. when he was hit at the corner of Dupont Avenue, Della Fave said. The impact knocked Lay to the ground, and then the driver of the vehicle got out and approached Lay, yelling at him, calling him drunk and saying the collision was Lay's fault, Lay told police. Lay said the driver allegedly agreed to ”make things right” by giving Lay cash and replacing his damaged bicycle, Della Fave said.

Lay, who complained of pain in the back of his head and was examined at Seaside Heights police headquarters by the Tri-Boro First Aid Squad, told police the driver never called for assistance and never asked if Lay needed any first aid, he said. Lay declined to be taken to a hospital for further treatment, Della Fave said. Lay told police his bicycle was put up against a wall and both Lay and the driver left the scene, he said.

Seaside Heights Patrolman Chris Linnell investigated Lay’s report and was able to confirm that the crash had happened at the time, place and date that Lay reported. Linnell also was able to determine the involved vehicle was assigned to and being driven by Genty, and that Genty never reported the incident by radio or phone, Della Fave said.

Linnell relayed the results of his investigation to Detective Stephen Korman of the Seaside Heights Police Office of Professional Responsibility. Linnell and Korman found Genty replaced Lay’s damaged bicycle with a bicycle taken from the police department’s temporary evidence/property area, Della Fave said.

Lay positively identified a photo of his bicycle that was damaged during the accident, and a photo of a bicycle that he found when he returned home after the collision, Della Fave said. The replacement bicycle was confirmed to be a bicycle that had been in the police department’s temporary evidence/property area, he said.

Boyd had Korman turn the investigation over to the prosecutor's office to avoid any conflict of interest and for further review.

Genty was then charged with witness tampering and evidence tampering, as well as failure to stop, leaving the scene of an accident and failure to report an accident, charges approved by Senior Assistant Prosecutor William Scharfenberg, Della Fave said.

Genty, accompanied by his attorney, Jeffrey Caccese of the Comegno Law Group in Morristown, surrendered at Seaside Heights Police Headquarters and was released on a summons, Della Fave said.

Note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated Genty was a police officer. The article has been updated to remove that erroneous information. Patch regrets the error.

Photo provided by the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office