Former Bay Head Police Chief Sentenced to Three Years in Jail

Charles B. Grace Jr., former Bay Head police chief, is starting to serve a three-year state prison sentence for stealing more than $36,000 from the local PBA and more than $15,000 from the Borough of Bay Head, according to the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.

Superior Court Judge Francis R. Hodgson, Jr., sitting in Toms River, sentenced Grace, 53, to three years in state prison with "two years of parole ineligibility," according to the prosecutor office's website. That means he must serve two years before he is eligible for parole.

Grace began serving the sentence immediately, said Al DellaFave, spokesman for the prosecutor's office.

The website says, "The sentence is mandatory because Grace admitted that he stole in excess of $10,000 and that he used his official position to facilitate the thefts."

"Grace admitted that between 2005 and 2010, while he was the chief of police, he intercepted checks intended for the Bay Head/Mantoloking P.B.A. taking in excess of $35,000 for his own personal use. He also admitted to using township funds to purchase personal items.  

"Grace was ordered to pay restitution to the Borough of Bay Head for his unauthorized purchases and for a forensic accounting undertaken by the borough in the amount of $15,581.17," the website says.

Investigators had seized $17,327 from Grace's residence and office, said DellaFave, adding he did not know if that amount was in cash, checks, other assets, or a combination, but that amount was identified as stolen assets in the case.

Grace must also pay $36,700.70 in restitution to the PBA, DellaFave said.

Because Grace had pleaded guilty, the case never went to trial, DellaFave said.

Grace had been indicted on the charges in January 2012, a year after he was arrested and released on his own recognizance. 

When Grace was initially charged and removed from duty in January 2011, he was living in Point Pleasant Borough. DellaFave said on Thursday that he did not know if Grace has continued living in Point until he began serving his sentence.

At the time Grace was charged, Michael Mohel, who was then an assistant county prosecutor, was temporarily placed in charge of the department. Then Robert F. Hoffman Jr., who was then a lieutenant, was made acting chief and, finally, became chief.

At the time that Grace was charged, the department had eight officers. According to the police department website, the department still has eight full-time officers, including the chief, and four special police officers.

At the time of the indictment, Grace was charged with two counts of official misconduct and single counts of theft and theft by deception, according to information released at the time by the prosecutor's office.

Grace, had used Bay Head municipal funds to buy clothing, boots, a firearm, ammunition and a digital camera, diverting "in excess of $200" from the Bay Head/Mantoloking PBA Local 347 and stealing "in excess of $500" from the local PBA and "Bay Head Police Association," according to the indictment.

He purchased the items "based on the misrepresentation that those items were to be utilized by the Bay Head Police Department," the indictment states. 

Grace was president of the Ocean County Chiefs of Police Association in 2010.

The case was investigated by officers from the Bay Head Police Department and Detectives Raymond Gardner and Mark Malinowski from the prosecutor's office.