New Jersey police chief faces domestic violence charges in Massachusetts, prosecutor says

BOSTON (AP) — A New Jersey police chief is facing domestic violence charges in Massachusetts after prosecutors accused him of assaulting a woman at a hotel earlier this year.

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

In a brief statement Sunday, prosecutors alleged Veneziano confined and assaulted a woman overnight on Sept. 14, in a hotel room in Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood.

Police in New Jersey arrested Veneziano on Friday, and he is expected to be arraigned Monday in Boston. An attorney for Veneziano was not immediately listed in court records.

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

“While I did not see the exact charges in writing, the Prosecutor’s Office did relay to me that these charges were serious in nature and considered felonies,” Coiro said in a statement.

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