Middlesex County Sheriff’s Officer Neil Raciti has been charged with assault and suspended without pay, according to county Sheriff Mildred Scott.
“The reason [for the suspension without pay] is because of the [criminal] charges,” said Scott.
Raciti, 47, who also serves as Milltown Borough Council president, had been charged Sept. 20 with simple assault, a disorderly persons offense.
The next day, the charge was upgraded to a third-degree charge of aggravated assault after it was determined that the victim sustained a fracture, according to Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey and Milltown Police Chief Raymond Geipel.
Raciti was charged after he injured the victim in Milltown shortly before 1 p.m. on Sept. 20. The assault was not related to Raciti’s employment and he was off-duty at the time, according to Carey. Raciti was taken into custody, charged, and later released on his own recognizance. The victim was treated at St. Peter’s University Hospital in New Brunswick and released.
The case against Raciti will be heard in state Superior Court, according to a Milltown Municipal Court employee. No date has been set, according to the prosecutor’s office.
James O’Neill, public information officer for the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, said the Milltown Police Department is investigating the incident.
O’Neill said aw enforcement officials are required by law to protect the identity of the victim.
Scott said her office would await the disposition of the criminal charges against Raciti before making a decision on his permanent employment status with the Sheriff’s Office.
Raciti has served with the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Department since 2002, working in the transportation division and he had previously served on the county’s Special Operations Response Team.
He was elected to the Milltown council in 2012 as a Democrat. Raciti, who recently changed his party affiliation to Republican, is seeking his second term in the upcoming election on Nov. 3.
Mayor Eric Steeber said at this point the charges against Raciti do not affect his position on the council since he has not been found guilty of any crime. Raciti also serves as chair of the Main Street Revitalization Committee, as a member of the firehouse committee and as council liaison to the public works and recycling departments.
Raciti served in the U.S. Army National Guard and was deployed to Iraq in the 1st Group, Special Forces, where he trained a Special Warfare Assistance Team manned by Iraqi soldiers.
The investigation is active and is continuing. Anyone with information is asked to call Sgt. Christopher Witt or Officer Shawn Holland, both of the Milltown Police Department, at 732-828-1100.