Suspicious device at St. Patrick’s Day parade was planted by fire official, cops say

The Brookdale Community College fire official who alerted authorities to a suspicious device at the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Keansburg last month is accused of putting it there, officials said.

Christopher J. Otis, 56, is charged with possession of a destructive device, creating a false public alarm and providing false information to an officer, the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office said Tuesday.

Otis called police just before 10:45 a.m. on March 28 and said he found the device near the beach, just off of a walking path in the area of Beachway and Bayview avenues.

Police found the device near the staging area for participants in the parade. Authorities canceled the parade for safety reasons.

Otis, of Brick, provided “conflicting accounts” to police about how he found the device, the prosecutor’s office and the FBI, authorities said.

His attorney, Robert G. Stahl, said the device allegedly found by investigators was not capable of causing harm.

Read more: NJ.com