A long-time Freehold Borough police officer was sentenced to probation and other penalties after being convicted of shoplifting from a Home Depot.
In June, a jury found that Freehold Borough Patrolman Darnelle Esdaile, 47, of Freehold, attempted to steal $500 in laminate flooring items from a Home Depot in Freehold Township.
According to the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, Esdaile entered the Home Depot on Nov. 11, 2010 and loaded eight boxes of laminate flooring and a steam mop onto a flatbed cart. He then tried to convince a cashier that he had already paid for the flooring and just needed to be charged for the mop. The cashier called security when Esdaile was unable to produce a receipt, but he proceeded to go to a second cashier and pay for the flooring.
After loading the flooring into his car, Esdaile reentered the Home Depot and loaded a cart with the same type and quantity of flooring, as well as six pieces of quarter-round molding. Esdaile then went to a third cashier and presented the receipt for the earlier purchase and paid only for the molding. But store security detained him after he attempted to leave the store with the unpaid flooring, the Prosecutor’s Office said.
Upon his fourth-degree shoplifting conviction, Esdaile was ordered by Superior Court Judge Anthony J. Mellaci, Jr. to immediately forfeit his position as a police officer. This bars him from holding any position with the state of New Jersey or any of its agencies or subdivisions on the county or municipal levels.
On Friday, Judge Mellaci also sentenced Esdaile to one year of probation and required him to pay multiple fines.
Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni thanked the Freehold Township Police Department and the Home Depot staff for their assistance in the investigation.
Esdaile was sworn in as a Freehold Borough police officer in 1996 and was making $99,402 annually at the time of his arrest.