Hit and Run Pedestrian Motor Vehicle Crash in Absecon

On February 23, 2020 at approximately 12:24 AM, officers from the Absecon Police Department were dispatched to the Delilah Road overpass (Route 646) for a motor vehicle crash involving a pedestrian. When units arrived, they discovered a 73-year-old male from Philadelphia had been struck.

The pedestrian was walking on the eastbound shoulder of the roadway. The vehicle, described as a silver SUV (possibly a Honda Pilot), struck the male then continued eastbound onto Absecon Boulevard (Route 30) towards Atlantic City.

Absecon Police Officer Suspended 30-Days and Loses Accrued Time for Inappropriate Comment to Another Officer

Chief John DeRitis, Jr.

An Absecon Police Officer was suspended and required to surrender accrued time off as part of disciplinary action for making inappropriate comments to another police officer. 

After a six-month long investigation and multiple Open Public Records Requests, it appears only one member of the Absecon Police Department, according to the documents released by the City, matched the description of the employee that received a 30 working day suspension and surrendered accrual time to the equivalent of approximately $12,000.  It appears that individual was Chief of Police John DeRitis, Jr. 

According to Payroll Records and Time Cards as released by the City of Absecon, Chief DeRitis was on unpaid leave for 30 working days from May 10, 2017 up to and including June 20, 2017, returning on June 21, 2017. Mayor John Armstrong appointed James R. Laughlin as Acting Chief from 4pm on May 9, 2017 until 8:00am on June 21, 2017, the date Chief DeRitis returned to work. (Click Here to View Time Card Records)