PARSIPPANY — A judge in Passaic County Superior Court threw out an official misconduct indictment against a suspended Morris County sheriff’s officer, Jason Campbell, stating the charges were the “fruit of a poisonous tree” after he was entrapped by a State Police trooper, according to Bergen Record.

Campbell, 36, was accused of flashing his sheriff’s badge to avoid being ticketed during a traffic stop in March 2012.

Superior Court Judge Raymond Reddin explained his ruling for more than an hour on Monday, December 14. “Those offenses and a subsequent driving-under-the-influence charge against Campbell would be dismissed because the stop was designed to coax the officer into showing his badge,” he stated.

“It was a ruse, it was a pretext, it was no different from racial profiling,” the judge continued, at times becoming animated. “It wasn’t a bona fide pulling over of the vehicle.”

In July 2014, Campbell rejected an amended plea deal that would have put him behind bars for two years.

It was reported, the Morris County Sheriff’s Office had been in contact with an anonymous tipster who said Campbell – who had to turn over his badge and gun while suspended on arson charges – frequently was driving while intoxicated and making trips to Newark to purchase narcotics. The tipster said Campbell had a secondary badge he would use if he was ever pulled over.

About eight to nine members of the county prosecutor’s office had followed Campbell’s vehicle on one such trip, in March 2012, and had instructed a state trooper to pull him over if he found a justification to do so.

The trooper told Campbell that he stopped his 2004 silver Dodge Ram pick-up truck because he was having “a little hard time staying in your lane” and that he was tailgating a vehicle in front of him. Campbell explained that he was “on the job,” after which the trooper repeatedly pressed him to produce his badge. This incident occurred on Route 287 north.

Eventually, the trooper explained that Campbell faced a ticket that would result in five points on his driver’s license before saying, “If you have your ID, that would be spectacular.”

Reddin said Campbell produced the badge only after he was essentially threatened and was clearly entrapped. The stop, he said, amounted to an unwarranted seizure of his vehicle and a violation of his 4th Amendment Constitutional rights.

The judge also said it was improper for officers to pat down Campbell’s wife, Jennifer Campbell, during the traffic stop, because she had done nothing wrong until officers recovered pills in her possession.

Jeffrey Patti, Esq. of Sparta, praised the judge’s ruling Monday, saying that it did away with a misconduct charge that carried a mandatory five-year prison term.

Jeffrey Patti, Esq. said “Naturally, we are very pleased with the court’s ruling. In their zeal to settle a political score the Morris County Prosecutor stepped way beyond the bounds of fundamental fairness. The real victor in this is the 4th amendment to our constitution.”

PARSIPPANY — Chanukah was celebrated at the Parsippany Municipal Building on Thursday, December 10 with the lighting of the menorah, live music, potato latkes, donuts, Chanukah gelt for the kids and fun for the entire family. Rabbi Baumgarten, Chabad Center of Northwest New Jersey emceed the event.

After the Menorah Lighting the crowd moved into the Council Chambers and they listened to Chanukah favorites performed by the children of Adath Shalom and Beth Am.

Parsippany Rescue and Recovery was lighting up the outside area.

Chanukah — the eight-day festival of light that begins on the eve of Kislev 25 – celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, of purity over adulteration, of spirituality over materiality. More than twenty-one centuries ago, the Holy Land was ruled by the Seleucids (Syrian-Greeks), who sought to forcefully Hellenize the people of Israel. Against all odds, a small band of faithful Jews defeated one of the mightiest armies on earth, drove the Greeks from the land, reclaimed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and rededicated it to the service of G-d. When they sought to light the Temple’s menorah, they found only a single cruse of olive oil that had escaped contamination by the Greeks; miraculously, the one day supply burned for eight days, until new oil could be prepared under conditions of ritual purity. To commemorate and publicize these miracles, the sages instituted the festival of Chanukah. At the heart of the festival is the nightly menorah lighting: a single flame on the first night, two on the second evening, and so on till the eighth night of Chanukah, when all eight lights are kindled. On Chanukah we also recite Hallel and the Al HaNissim prayer to offer praise and thanksgiving to G-d for “delivering the strong into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of the few … the wicked into the hands of the righteous.”

Chanukah customs include eating foods fried in oil — latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiot (doughnuts); playing with the dreidel (a spinning top on which are inscribed the Hebrew letters nun, gimmel, hei and shin, an acronym for Nes Gadol Hayah Sham, “a great miracle happened there”); and the giving of Chanukah gelt, gifts of money, to children.

The program was video taped by  Video-on-the-go.

PARSIPPANY — Santa Claus will make a visit to the Parsippany IHOP located at 792 Route 46 on Saturday, December 19, Sunday, December 20 and Christmas Day from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Santa will be giving out candy canes and children will have the opportunity to tell Santa what they would like for Christmas! Be sure to bring your camera and take lots of pictures to catch that special time you spend on Santa’s lap!