Crime & Safety

Man Arrested in Brennan Concourse Assaults Released From Hospital

Northern Boulevard resident Kenneth Morris transferred to another facility

 

The man charged with injuring four police officers, damaging three police cars and assaulting a man with a tire iron has been released from Jersey Shore University Medical Center and moved to another facility.

, 40, Northern Boulevard, was transferred from the hospital late this afternoon to another facility in Trenton for further evaluation, Detective Sgt. James J. Smith Jr. said.

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He will eventually be transferred to the Ocean County Jail in Toms River, where his bail has been set at $750,000, with no ten percent option.

Police began a high-speed pursuit of Morris at 2:44 a.m. on Nov. 27, after responding to a report that Morris had struck a man in the head with a tire iron, then fled the scene in his pick-up truck. They found him on Brennan Concourse.

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Morris, who had told police he had a gun, rammed three police cruisers with this truck. Patrolmen Patrick Stesner, Michael O'Connor, David Moody and Sgt. Peter Larocca were all injured in the assault.

Morris spoke to Detective Joseph Robertazzi by phone during the pursuit and claimed to be armed. Hethreatened to kill the victim of the Brennan Concourse assault and declared his intention to die by "suicide by cop," police have said.

Morris was charged with five counts of second-degree aggravated assault, one count of third-degree aggravated assault and one count of second-degree eluding. More charges are expected, police said.

Morris was no stranger to police before the assaults last weekend. He was involved in a on Sept. 19, when police responded to his Northern Boulevard home after someone not at the residence called and said he had threatened some type of violence. He eventually came out and no charges were filed in that incident.

Three of the four police officers injured will be on light duty for the next several weeks, Police Chief Karin T. DiMichele has said.

The approved a vendor to begin equipping new leased police cars with police equipment.


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