Andy Fresco was charged with taking sick time while also working at the mall.
EDISON -- A recently-retired top commander in the Edison Police Department has been charged with theft after prosecutors say he illegally collected $43,000 in sick leave.
Natale "Andy" Fresco was charged Thursday after authorities say he collected sick time for months while also working as the head of security at the Menlo Park Mall.
"This office consistently investigates and prosecutes theft and corruption cases," Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew Carey said in a prepared statement. "We will remain diligent in our efforts to target such behavior and we will seek restitution for the taxpayers wherever possible."
The case is a fresh embarrassment for the Edison Police Department, which has been plagued for years by accusations of misdeeds, some administrative and others criminal, at every rank.
MORE: Betraying the badge: Edison police produce astonishing record of misconduct
Darren Gelber, Fresco's attorney, said he believes the town was apprised of Fresco's plans to work at the mall while taking sick time.
"He came down with a very serious health condition that meant he could no longer perform the duties of a police officer, but which didn't mean he had to lock himself in a closet and never be seen again in public," said Gelber, who declined to disclose the exact health condition.
Gelber said a police officer's duties are much different from a mall security chief -- for one, he didn't carry a gun at the mall, which was a "desk job," Gelber said.
Fresco collected sick time from July 15 to Sept. 30 while working at the mall, police said. He retired on Oct. 1. He was a 37-year veteran of the Edison Police Department.
"For reasons I don't fully understand, the prosecutor's office thinks this is a crime," Gelber said.
According to three sources close to Fresco, he has cancer, and has recently undergone chemotherapy treatments.
Earlier this year, Fresco was one of seven officers who reached a combined $200,000 legal settlement over the so-called "wagon wheel of death." The now-infamous organizational chart, the plaintiffs alleged, was part of an improper Internal Affairs investigation that targeted them for their support of former mayor Antonia Ricigliano. The town argued in court that the FBI directed officers to create the chart as part of a corruption probe.
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