BY TOM CAIAZZA
Staff Writer
FREEHOLD – Anthony Spalliero pleaded not guilty to attempted kidnapping charges on Monday after two previous arraignments were postponed for health reasons.
The wheelchair-bound Monmouth County developer finally answered charges of attempted kidnapping stemming from an altercation last September. At an arraignment before state Superior Court Judge Bette E. Urmacher in Freehold, Spalliero appeared ashen and visibly trembled while being wheeled in front of the judge. A status conference with Urmacher was scheduled for Sept. 25.
Spalliero was supposed to be arraigned on June 5 for charges of attempted kidnapping, illegal possession of a weapon, aggravated assault by pointing a weapon and terroristic threats, but was hospitalized and treated for congestive heart failure after collapsing in his daughter’s Hazlet home the day before the arraignment.
He was then scheduled to appear on June 26 but was kept out of the courtroom once again due to hospitalization, Michael Pappa, Spalliero’s lawyer, said at the time. Spalliero suffers from congestive heart failure, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease.
Spalliero was indicted in April 2006 for the attempted kidnapping of a former girlfriend on the campus of Brookdale Community College, according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office. Spalliero, then 62, allegedly attempted to enter the car of the 22-year-old woman. When the woman refused to speak to him, Spalliero allegedly pulled a gun from his pocket and demanded the woman start the car and threatened to kill her if she did not comply.
The woman fled the car and was observed by a campus security officer, who investigated. Spalliero left in a separate car and was arrested later that afternoon at his ex-wife’s Holmdel residence.
At the time, Spalliero had been out on $2 million bail on federal charges of paying nearly $150,000 in bribes to then Marlboro Mayor Matthew Scannapieco and the late County Freeholder Harry Larrison in return for expedited development deals. The bail was revoked and Spalliero was placed on house arrest as a result of the kidnap attempt.
Pappa could not be reached for comment.