Piscataway Fire Chief Charged With Criminal Mischief

PISCATAWAY, NJ — A volunteer fire chief in Piscataway was charged with third-degree criminal mischief after video emerged of him allegedly vandalizing his neighbor's car.

The video shows a man, allegedly Joshua Scolnick, pouring a bucket full of rock, gravel and dirt onto a rare sports car owned by a man who runs a wrestling business next door to the firehouse.

NJ.com posted the video to YouTube.

Scolnick is fire chief of Arbor Hose Company No. 1 in Piscatway, a volunteer position.

The neighbor is Mark Bahna. He told Patch he and the men in the firehouse have been having a dispute over rainwater between the two properties.

"They were mad because rainwater from my property was going on their property. I said there is no way to re-direct it. It's been like this for 30 years, and happened way before I bought the property," said Bahna.

Bahna runs a wrestling business from the building he owns. He said he came in Monday morning and noticed the damage to his sports car parked out back. He reviewed his security cameras and was "stunned" to see someone pouring a bucket of mud, dirt and rocks onto the car.

Bahna said he could recognize it was Scolnick from his face and his tattoos.

"I saw the damage to my sports car and when I saw it was the chief, I was just so upset," he said. "This stuff sat in my car from Saturday to Monday. Some of the water got into my car, too because of the way he threw the muck and mud and stuff. The buckets were really heavy with stuff, at least 40 pounds."

Piscataway Police confirmed Scolnick was charged with third-degree criminal mischief and released on a summons to appear in town court.