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Rumson Cop Who Beat DWI Charge Is Suing To Get His Job Back

3 RUMSON PD

Damien Brennan

Damien Brennan, a former Rumson Police Sergeant, is asking the Monmouth County Superior Court to force the Borough and its Police Department to give him his gun and badge back.

Brennan, 38 of Howell, was terminated on August 11 of this year after an Internal Affairs inquiry into the single-car traffic accident he had on in the early hours of September 20, 2014 when he left the Dublin House in Red Bank to report to his off-duty assignment protecting Bruce Springsteen’s unoccupied Rumson home.   According to reports on RedBankGreen, Brennan crashed his Chevy Camaro into a dumpster behind Fisher Diamonds at the corner of White and Broad Streets.

The Red Bank Police charged Brennan with DWI.   He pleaded guilty to Reckless Driving and received a 60 day drivers license suspension after his attorney, Peter O’Mara, argued that the blood sample evidence taken at Riverview Medical Center after the accident should be ruled inadmissible because the Red Bank Police did not obtain a warrant for the blood, according to RedBankGreen.

In his suit against Rumson, Brennan blamed his car accident on Meniere’s Disease, a disorder of unknown cause that manifests with spontaneous  episodes of vertigo — a sensation of a spinning motion — along with fluctuating hearing loss, ringing in the ear, and sometimes a feeling of fullness or pressure in the ear.

Brennan was placed on administrative leave, with pay, following the accident.  In January Brennan was informed that Rumson was seeking to terminate his employment. An administrative hearing was held on the matter in April. Hearing Officer  Bette E. Uhrmacher recommended on August 3 that Rumson terminate Brennan’s employment. The Rumson Borough Council approved a resolution terminating Brennan on August 11.

In his suit filed on September 10, 2015 by Matthew R. Dempsky, Esq of Alterman & Associates, Brennan claims that his termination is unlawful, that his car accident is not subject to discipline because of his Meniere’s Disease, that his off-duty job of protecting Bruce Springsteen’s property is not within the purview of the Rumson Police Department’s Rules and Regulations and that the termination violates Rumson’s stated policy of progressive discipline.

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Posted: September 24th, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Monmouth County News, Rumson | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

2 Comments on “Rumson Cop Who Beat DWI Charge Is Suing To Get His Job Back”

  1. Tucker said at 2:21 pm on September 25th, 2015:

    Did this officer know that medical studies show that using alcohol with Meniere’s Disease is not a good idea as it can increase the likelyhood of symptoms such as dizziness. I am sure he did as we all research our own medical conditions unless we are dumb.

    http://american-hearing.org/disorders/menieres-disease/

    So he admits to Meniere’s disease and then goes to the Dublin House and then decides it is ok to drive a vehicle? Makes a lot of sense.

  2. The lack of said at 10:14 am on September 26th, 2015:

    personal responsibility for choices and behaviors when people screw up,is astounding to me: if it’s not someone else’s fault, it’s some health issue, or some other situation or person in their life that “made them or drove them” to it.. so now this spoiled kid sues, basically at the taxpayers’ expense? Am frankly not comfortable one like this, may well get a badge and a gun back..