JCPD Deputy Chief Edgar Martinez’s response to questions about his residency, provided during a sworn deposition, conflict with the address listed for him in an internal police document.
Snippet from JCPD D.C. Edgar Martinez’s deposition.
A deputy police chief with the Jersey City Police Department (JCPD) stated under oath that he doesn’t rent any property, but an internal police document obtained by Real Garden State lists his address as a unit in a Jersey City Heights building owned by a municipal judge – raising questions about the truthfulness of their deposition in a civil lawsuit.
Yesterday, Real Garden State published a story detailing allegations of ticket fixing involving JCPD P.O. Richie Lopez and attorney Paul Scalia. It was reported that an anonymous Internal Affairs complaint accused Scalia of being involved in a ticket fix for Lopez; supposedly on behalf of Deputy Chief Edgar Martinez, according to sources.
The substance of that story remains the same, but one section was not entirely accurate. Specifically, it was written that Martinez’s home address in the JCPD document was in the same Central Avenue property Scalia was claiming residency and was the focus of a Jersey City Times report.
In fact, Martinez’s address in the JCPD document was a neighboring multi-family building on Central Avenue that’s also owned by Scalia (and two of Scalia’s family members, according to business records).
The point of the passage was to highlight Martinez and Scalia’s relationship. The issue was whether Martinez was truthful or not in his sworn deposition. Although the point and issue remain the same, that one detail needed to be corrected.
As for the underlying issue, according to the transcript of a sworn deposition obtained by Real Garden State, Martinez testified that he lives in a Jersey City house he’s owned for approximately 25 years and doesn’t rent another property in the city.
The JCPD document obtained by Real Garden State, which also includes verifiable information of other officers, contradicts that testimony. Notably, the Central Avenue address for Martinez in the JCPD document is not owned by the deputy chief and is described as an apartment dwelling.
A spokesperson for the City of Jersey City did not respond to an email seeking confirmation/denial regarding whether or not Martinez ever listed a Central Avenue address in JCPD documents. If/when that occurs, this story will be updated.
