A New Jersey judge has cleared the way for two suspended officers at the center of a long-running racism scandal to be fired, rejecting their argument that delays in the investigation shielded them from discipline.
According to NJ.com, the ruling marks a major turning point in a case that has already cost taxpayers more than $2.6 million in salary payments to officers who have not worked in more than five years.
In a December 18 order made public this week, Superior Court Judge Lisa Miralles Walsh ruled that Clark Township Police Chief Pedro Matos and Sgt. Joseph Teston can face disciplinary hearings that could result in their termination.
The decision dismisses lawsuits filed by the officers, who claim that the state took too long to complete its investigation, thereby violating procedural deadlines.
The ruling allows internal discipline to move forward after years of legal limbo, during which Matos, Teston, and a third officer, Capt. Vincent Concina, remained on paid suspension while continuing to receive annual raises. Township payroll records show that the three officers have collectively earned more than $2.6 million in salary since their suspensions in 2020.
An attorney for Matos criticized the handling of the investigation and suggested an appeal remains possible.
“Three-plus years doing a quote/unquote investigation,” lawyer Charles Sciarra said in a statement, followed by “another two years dragging his feet proving ever-so-slightly that an investigation was ongoing.”
The controversy stems from secret recordings made in 2019 by a whistleblower within the department.
On the tapes, Matos and Teston were captured using racial slurs, including the n-word, in casual conversation. In one recording, Matos discussed reopening a 2017 bias incident involving a Black puppet found hanging at a local high school, saying he wanted to prove “that them f**king [n-words] did it.”
In another, Teston referred to a Black suspect as a “f**king animal” with a “big f**king monkey head.”
The recordings became public in 2022, along with revelations that the township paid a $400,000 settlement to the whistleblower, former Lt. Antonio Manata, to keep the tapes from surfacing earlier.
In November 2023, then–Attorney General Matthew Platkin formally called for Matos and Teston to be fired and recommended that Concina be demoted for alleged retaliation against the whistleblower.
A criminal investigation ultimately resulted in no charges against the officers. However, it did uncover unrelated misconduct by former Clark Mayor Sal Bonaccorso, who later pleaded guilty to public corruption charges.