Monmouth County Attorney Tried To Blame Nightclub Crash On Detective, Police Say

SAYREVILLE, NJ -- A Freehold attorney who has offices in Howell and Ocean townships has been charged with giving false information to police in connection with a crash in the parking lot of a nightclub in Sayreville, Middlesex County authorities said Tuesday.

Mark Kentos, 45, of Freehold, was charged Monday with a fourth-degree count of providing false reports to law enforcement, and obstructing the administration of law and hindering his own apprehension, Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey and Sayreville Police Chief John J. Zebrowski announced.

Kentos is a partner in the firm Schibell, Mennie and Kentos, LLC.

The charges stem from a Dec. 4 crash at a Sayreville nightclub, authorities said. An investigation determined Kentos was driving a 2006 Dodge Ram pickup truck when he crashed into the rear passenger side of a 2013 Subaru at 11:20 p.m., but he told police his pickup had been driven by a detective from the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office and claimed the detective fled, authorities said.

It subsequently was shown that the detective was not the driver, was not at the scene of the collision, and had not been at the nightclub, authorities said.

Kentos surrendered at Sayreville Police headquarters on Monday and was released on his own recognizance, authorities said.

The investigation is active and is continuing. Anyone with information is asked to call Lt. Brennan of the Sayreville Police Department at (732) 727-4444, or Detective Chiorello of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office e at (732) 745-3300.