TOMS RIVER -- A lieutenant with the Ocean County Sheriff's Office was charged Wednesday with stealing more than a kilo of cocaine that he was supposed to use for canine training and instead, using it himself, authorities said.
John C. Adams, 40, was charged with official misconduct, theft and possession of cocaine after authorities investigated his alleged drug use, said Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph Coronato and Ocean County Sheriff Michael Mastronardy.
Coronato and Mastronardy said that between May 15, 2015, and Feb. 11, 2017, Adams, a certified canine handler and a certified canine handler instructor, stole cocaine used for training drug-detection dogs. Adams used the cocaine himself, Coronato and Mastronardy said.
Adams, a nearly 17-year veteran of the department, surrendered at noon on Wednesday to the Toms River Police Department. He was issued a complaint summons and the Superior Court will schedule his first appearance.
Mastronardy called the incident an "aberration of one officer."
"It is not a reflection on the dedicated men and women of our office who serve the public every day," he said.
Because of this investigation, his office has made "minor policy and procedure changes to prevent having something like this happen again," the sheriff said.
Al Della Fave, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office, said the decision to issue Adams a summons rather than jail him was "based on factors we take into account that we can't openly discuss with the public."
Adams was hired as a dispatcher in 2000 and became a sheriff's officer in 2001, Mastronardy said. He was suspended without pay from his job that paid $116,468 in 2015, the sheriff said.
Besides the prosecutor's office and the sheriff's office, the investigation included the FBI and the federal Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms Bureau.
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