Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey said a South Amboy police officer was charged today with stealing approximately $3,000 in cash that was seized during criminal investigations and held as evidence at the South Amboy Police Department.
Detective Matthew Barcheski, 39, of South Amboy was charged with theft and a related count of official misconduct for taking the money in various amounts from the department’s evidence storage room over an undisclosed period of time.
The charges were filed during an investigation by Detective Nicholas Chiorello of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.
Barcheski has been police officer in South Amboy since 2005 and until recently, served as a member of the Middlesex County Special Operations Response Team, known as SORT. He began his career in March 2003 as a Middlesex County Sheriff’s Officer.
The investigation is active and is continuing.
Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Chiorello of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at (732) 745-3848.