Two former Asbury Park Police officers receive probation for vandalizing journalist’s cars

Two former Asbury Park, N.J. police officers each were sentenced Wednesday to one year on probation for vandalizing vehicles belonging to a journalist and an Asbury Park resident who filed complaints against them, reports the The Asbury Park Press.

In back-to-back sentencing hearings of Stephen M. Martinsen, 31, and Thomas A. Dowling, 27, the judge imposed probationary terms and ordered the former officers to undergo alcohol treatment and to split repayment of a total $1,712.66 to Mignoli for damages to his vehicles.

Both defendants brought cashier’s checks to court, payable to the victim 71-year-old Ernest Mignoli, to cover the full amount of restitution, but Mignoli refused to accept the payment, according to the report.

Martisen and Downing entered consent orders to permanently forfeit their police jobs and any future public employment in the state when they pleaded guilty Aug. 25 to criminal mischief.

Authorities said Martinsen and Dowling donned masks and gloves between 3 and 4 a.m. on Sept. 3, 2019 and rode bicycles to two locations where Mignoli’s vehicles were parked — one in Asbury Park and the other in Ocean Grove. They both admitted slashing the tires on both cars and smashing a window in one, after Mignoli had filed a complaint against them.

Mignoli, who describes himself as a freelance journalist, said despite the sentencing, the police continue to harass him.

“They ticket my car for nothing, they harass me wherever I go,” Mignoli said.

Mignoli complained that police are treated with leniency when they commit crimes.

“We’re not asking for much — 30 days in jail,” Mignoli said to the Asbury Park Press. “How about five days in jail — something to send a message.”

Dowling had been a class-II special officer in Asbury Park since May 2015 and was terminated after he was arrested in September 2019. Martinsen, who started as a class-I special officers in 2013, became a full-time officer in 2017. He had been suspended without pay since September 2019 until forfeiting his job last in August, according to the report.

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