EXCLUSIVE: Former Camden Police Sergeant Takes Shot At Disability Pension
By Cleve Bryan
TRENTON, N.J., (CBS) -- Former Camden Police Sergeant Jeffrey Frett took a second shot at a disability pension Monday.
He says he was injured in an on-the-job car accident in 2008 which was two years to prior to the incident that cost him his job.
Authorities say in November 2010 Frett reported he was shot at along I-676 in Camden by a gunman in a dark colored van.
It turned out to be a staged incident.
According to documents released last week to the New Jersey Board of Trustees for Police and Firemen's Retirement System, the shooter was Frett's wife.
Officials say the couple had a plan the 16-year-veteran's wife was to shoot him in the leg in hopes he'd get a disability pension. She missed his leg and was pulled over trying to get away.
Frett pleaded guilty to a disorderly persons offense for making a bogus call over his police radio, paid $158 fine and spent a year on probation. He lost his job with the agreement he was barred from future public employment.
Monday Frett's lawyer told the pension board despite how he lost his job, his client should be entitled to an accidental disability pension for the 2008 car accident.
"After the accident this is where Mr. Frett's life fell apart," said attorney John Feeley.
Feeley says the former officer didn't get sufficient treatment for his injuries but board members challenged the legitimacy of his claims.
"If you really believed that you were disabled in 2008, you wouldn't have had to have your wife shoot you in 2010," said board of trustee John Sierchio.
The board voted unanimously to deny the accidental disability pension which Frett will have 45 days to appeal.
"I'm just extremely disappointed and have to think what I'm going to do next," Frett said after the hearing.
