South Amboy Detective Stole Cash From the Evidence Room, Prosecutor Says

1726 Hits

A high-ranking South Amboy cop stole cash seized in investigations from the evidence room, the county prosecutor says.

February 23, 2017

SOUTH AMBOY, NJ - A South Amboy police detective has been charged with stealing money from the evidence room, the Middlesex County prosecutor announced Thursday morning.

Detective Matthew Barcheski, 39, who lives in South Amboy, helped himself to approximately $3,000 in cash, all of which was money seized during criminal investigations and held as evidence at the South Amboy Police Department headquarters evidence room, investigators said. He took the money in various amounts from the evidence storage room over an undisclosed period of time, county prosecutor Andrew Carey said.

He was charged with theft and a related count of official misconduct. And Barcheski was fairly high-ranking in Middlesex County law enforcement: In addition to serving as a South Amboy police officer since 2005, he also recently worked as a member of the Middlesex County Special Operations Response Team, known as SORT. He began his career in March 2003 as a Middlesex County Sheriff's Officer.

The charges were filed during an investigation by Detective Nicholas Chiorello of the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office.

The investigation is active and is continuing. Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Chiorello of the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office at (732) 745-3848.