The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
An on-duty township Police officer was charged in April with driving under the influence of drugs the same day the case was transferred from Franklin Township Municipal Court to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.
Court records show that Matthew D. Ellery was charged on April 15 with DWI, for an incident that occurred a little after 1 a.m. on April 7 at the Puskas dairy farm on Bennetts Lane. There is no indication of why eight days elapsed before the charge was filed.
No other details on the arrest or incident were officially available.
The court records also indicate that the case was transferred to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office on April 15.
Ellery has been on the force since January, 2017.
A report published in NJ.Com indicated that public records requests for material related to the incident were denied because the incident is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.
A patrol shift roster obtained by NJ.Com showed that Ellery signed in at 9 p.m. April 6, and was scheduled to be on duty until 7:30 a.m. April 7.
NJ.Com also reported that the home address for Ellery listed on the ticket was that of Ellery’s Grill, his father’s Middlesex Borough bar.
This is a developing story. We will publish new information as it becomes available.
