Who Will Replace Toms River Police Chief?

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Toms River Police Chief Mitchell Little will make his retirement official Friday afternoon when he walks out of the Richard C. Clement Law Enforcement Center for the last time as a police officer.

Little, who became chief Jan. 1, 2014, will be honored with a walk-out ceremony at the police department at 4:30 p.m. Friday.

His retirement leaves the department without a chief for the first time in decades. Little succeeded now-Ocean County Sheriff Michael Mastronardy, who retired Dec. 31, 2013 after serving as Toms River's chief for 22 years.

Patrick Dellane, who had been deputy chief under Little, retired July 31.

In April when Little was suspended by Mayor Daniel Rodrick, Lt. Scott Moeller served as acting chief because Dellane was out on medical leave. At the time Rodrick said Lt. Peter Sundack would be in charge because he has the most seniority. In a text message Sunday, Aug. 25, Rodrick said Moeller was put in charge by Rodrick.

Rodrick said the process to hire a new chief would begin after Little's retirement is official, and would include an invitation to all seven of the department's lieutenants to apply for the position.

Those lieutenants are Sundack, who leads the professional standards unit; Lt. Guy Maire, who leads the day shift patrol unit; Lt. Vincent Pedalino, the evening shift unit leader; Moeller, the midnight shift patrol unit leader; Lt. Ron Sermarini, who heads the special operations division including the detectives; Lt. Anthony Scali, head of the traffic safety unit, and Lt. Gene Bachonski, head of the community affairs division.

Rodrick pushed back on statements Little made in a message to the police department announcing his retirement, saying Little was not blocked from requesting promotions for the department.

"His whole notion of doing this (retiring) to get promotions is false," Rodrick said in a phone call Monday. "He was given the opportunity for promotions all the way back to April."

"The truth of the matter is he retired to avoid further discipline," Rodrick said, who went on to say, "The chief doesn't really do much of anything, he's a figurehead."

Little was a visible presence in the community, however, attending a variety of events and seen speaking with residents. He often was on the scene of major incidents.

He was at the scene July 5 during the hours-long standoff in Toms River on July 5 with the fugitive in a fatal Manchester shooting. The fugitive, Maxwell A. Johnston, fired at law enforcement multiple times during the standoff before ending it by taking his own life.

Little was pulling away from the scene that evening when he stopped and told a Patch reporter the standoff had ended, and that the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office would be releasing the information soon.

NOTE: This article has been updated to correct who led the Toms River Police Department during Little's suspension in April.