NJ police chief faces domestic violence charges, prosecutor says

BOSTON– A New Jersey police chief faces domestic violence charges in Massachusetts after prosecutors accused him of assaulting a woman at a hotel earlier this year.

Carmen Veneziano, who heads Totowa, New Jersey’s police department, was charged Thursday with one count of kidnapping and three counts of domestic assault and battery, officials in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, said.

In a brief statement Sunday, prosecutors said Veneziano kidnapped and assaulted a woman during the night of September 14 in a hotel room in Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood.

New Jersey police arrested Veneziano on Friday and he is expected to be arraigned Monday in Boston. Veneziano’s attorney was not immediately listed in court records.

Totowa Mayor John Coiro said he learned of the accusations Friday and suspended Veneziano without pay later that day.

“Although I have not seen the exact charges in writing, the prosecutor’s office has informed me that these charges are serious in nature and constitute crimes,” Coiro said in a statement.

More details will be disclosed at Veneziano’s arraignment, prosecutors said.