New Jersey police chief Robert Farley accused of sticking subordinate with hypodermic needle, pooping on floor and spiking coffee pot with Adderall and Viagra: legal docs
A New Jersey police chief is under fire after disturbing accusations emerged Wednesday that he spiked coworkers’ coffee with Viagra and Adderall, defecated on floors and even stuck a hypodermic needle into an officer’s penis, according to legal papers.
The unsavory antics were part of a culture of humiliation, harassment and vulgarity that North Bergen police chief Robert Farley allegedly fostered within the department since he took charge last year, according to a group of cops preparing to sue him and the town.
Farley was also accused of sneaking hot peppers into officers’ food, sending sex toys and gay pride flags to the home of a cop and tossing eggs “in fits of anger” in the legal documents.
Five officers filed the legal action in preparation to sue for retaliation, harassment and discrimination they said they faced at the hands of Farley and his allegedly toxic workplace.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in my life,” the officers’ attorney, Patrick Toscano, told NJ.com Wednesday.
Farley, who became police chief in February 2024 after more than 20 years with the department, allegedly wasted little time to begin harassing subordinates.
Michael F. Derin, who worked as a special captain in an administrative role, accused the chief of chasing him around the office before cornering him and poking him with a hypothermic needle through his jeans and into his penis in August 2024.
“When I told chief Farley I was unhappy with his actions, he told me that I didn’t know how to take a joke,” Derin wrote in a notice of claim – the precursor to a lawsuit.
Derin, a former detective in the department, also claimed Farley shaved his body hair over people’s property and their food.
When he planned on reporting the chief’s behavior to the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, he was fired and his son, Det. Michael A. Derin, was given lousier hours, the notice alleged.
He and Lt. Alex Guzman also listed numerous times that Farley allegedly relieved himself outside of the bathroom.
“Chief Farley has, on several occasions, pulled his pants down and defecated on the floor in front of his entire office staff,” Guzman wrote in his notice of claim.
One time he even pooped in the trash can of an office he was moving out of so the next police official moving into the space would find it, Guzman alleged.
When Farley allegedly put hot peppers into other employees’ food and heated it in the microwave, the fumes emanating from the stunt caused one lieutenant to get sick, according to the notice of claim.
“Chief Farley has also tampered with office coffee by adding prescription medications such as Adderall and Viagra, causing staff to inadvertently experience the effects of these substances without their consent,” Guzman wrote.
The younger Derin said he started getting coffee from a machine because he didn’t think it was safe to drink from the pot anymore, according to his notice of claim.
Meanwhile, Officer Rasheed Siyam claimed in his notice that he faced racist remarks in the office and was reassigned for being a whistleblower, while Officer Christopher Bowen alleged he was also reassigned unjustifiably due to retaliation and for not hitting an illegal ticket quota.
North Bergen stood by its police chief amid the accusations, telling NBC News the town “has full confidence in Chief Robert Farley’s leadership.”
“We strongly deny these false and outrageous allegations made by disgruntled officers who are resorting to attacking the reputation of a dedicated public servant to further their own selfish goals,” a town spokesperson said.
“In order to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest and because we are fully confident that these claims will be proven false, we have proactively referred them to the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office for review.”
