NJ cop pleads guilty after breaking into ex’s home
A New Jersey police officer accused of breaking into an ex-boyfriend’s home earlier this year pleaded guilty Monday to burglary, criminal mischief and simple assault, officials said.
Rebecca Sayegh, 32, of Toms River, was arrested April 28, three days after she smashed the glass door of a Berkeley Township home with a baton and entered the residence, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said in a news release.
Sayegh formerly lived at the house with her former boyfriend of five years, who now lives at the address with his current girlfriend, prosecutors said.
The Toms River police officer, who was off-duty at the time, was also accused of threatening two victims inside the home and damaging the hood of a vehicle parked outside the property.
After resisting arrest, Sayegh was arrested by Berkeley police and booked into the Ocean County Jail.
In May, after being released from prison, Sayegh was admitted to an out-of-state mental health facility that treats law enforcement.
On Monday, she pleaded guilty before Judge Guy P. Ryan and agreed to give up her position with the Toms River Police Department as well as “any future public employment in the State of New Jersey,” according to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer.
Sayegh is scheduled to be sentenced on January 16. Prosecutors will seek a sentence of 180 days in jail, no contact with the victim and restitution, Billhimer said.
