BY WALTER ELLIOTT
ORANGE – When word of an elected city official who had been charged with firearms and terroristic threats counts after March 10-11 detainment at Newark’s Essex County Correctional Facility, that news had traveled fast across state lines.
Orange East Ward Councilman Kerry Coley – said Essex County Prosecutor Theodore “Ted” Stephens II and Orange Police Director Todd Warren in a statement – was released after being charged on one count each of displaying a firearm and making a terroristic threat.
Warren said that Coley, 60, had surrendered himself to Orange’s Freddie Polhill Law and Justice Complex the night of March 10. Stephens said Coley was then taken to the county jail.
Coley, like all elected officials and law enforcement officers, are sworn to uphold the U.S. and state constitutions and their laws. He was first elected ward councilman in 2014 and is currently in his third four-year term. He had also been selected by his council peers as his president for a year.
The presiding State Superior Court judge that Tuesday told Coley that he was being released on Level 1 monitoring. That level includes calling the county’s pretrial services monthly, surrendering any weapons in his possession and having no contact with the alleged victim.
It is not known as of press time how many and what types of weapons Coley possesses and, after March 11, has surrendered. It is not known whether any of the weapons is the one he had allegedly displayed.
Coley retired from the Orange Police Department as a Sergeant in June 2014. He was sworn to “Serve and Protect” in 1994 after being honorably discharged from four years’ service with the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division.
It is to the understanding of “Local Talk” that Coley had surrendered himself after learning that a warrant for his arrest was issued earlier that Friday March 7.
How a person, who has otherwise honored his duties, got on the unaccustomed side of law and order for him stemmed from an Oct. 9 incident by his residence. The victim told authorities that he was working as a tow truck driver that Wednesday when he was called to take away a car on that block.
The tow truck driver said that he was approached by Coley, who said the vehicle in question is owned by one of his relatives. The driver said that Coley, in the resulting confrontation, showed that he was carrying a handgun on him.
“Displaying a weapon,” under state criminal statute, is a fourth-degree crime. It is punishable by up to 18 months in a state prison and up to a $10,000 fine.
“Making a terroristic threat” is a third-degree crime which carries five years maximum prison time and a fine up to $75,000.
Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Spokeswoman Carmen Martin said that Coley’s case may “likely” go to a superior court grand jury. That to-be-empaneled jury could hand up a bill of indictment – which means that there is enough evidence to bring the matter to a petit jury.
Coley, who is a Bethel Baptist Church Trustees Vice President, has also been a 10-year Orange Housing Authority Commissioner. He made an unsuccessful mayoral run against incumbent Dwayne Warren in 2016.
The stunning affair has brought a few questions to the minds of many residents, in and around Orange. The people are asking: For an accusation such as this, why wasn’t the matter brought forth in October 2024, when it was originally alleged to have happened? Did Coley upset someone politically? Does it involve Mayor Warren – the man Coley ran against?
