Father of cop ‘tried to run over woman for leaked photo of son wearing yarmulke at party’
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A New Jersey committeewoman is claiming the township’s Office of Emergency Management tried to run her over with his car in retaliation for her supposedly leaking embarrassing photos of his son.
Rochelle Park township committee member Linda Boniface, 56, filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court of Bergen County claiming that former township fire chief Peter Donatello, 65, purposely tried to run over her with his car on November 5, 2019.
In the lawsuit, which was filed August 15, Boniface said that Donatello – the current township Office of Emergency Management coordinator – drove towards her ‘with malice forethought’ as she flattened herself against her parked truck, according to NJ.com.
Linda Boniface, 56 (left), filed a lawsuit claiming that former township fire chief Peter Donatello, 65 (right), purposely tried to run over her with his car in November 2019
During the incident, which supposedly took place on Election Day at about 8pm, Boniface said that Donatello and his wife, Patricia, were in their car when they saw her outside the Rochelle Park municipal building.
Boniface claims that as she was walking to the driver’s side door of her pickup truck, the Donatellos swerved at her, causing her to press herself up against her car door.
The Donatellos’ car’s side mirror hit her hand during the incident, causing her pain and swelling, she claimed in the lawsuit, adding that the couple had driven towards her with the intent of either trying to injure or terrorize her.
Following the incident, Boniface and the Donatellos went to the police station to report what happened, but police eventually said surveillance camera footage didn’t show the complete incident so the Donatellos were not prosecuted, according to the lawsuit.
In her lawsuit, Boniface said that the Donatellos told police a ‘false version of events to the police to cover their tracks’ by suggesting that Boniface had ‘turned into their vehicle to stage an incident, which is absolutely ridiculous.’
Boniface claims that Peter Donatello and his wife, Patricia, believe that she is responsible for leaking images of their son, Peter III, wearing a yarmulke at a party (pictured)
Boniface claimed that she believes Peter Donatello (right) and his wife think that the leaked photo stopped their son (left) from getting promoted past sergeant in his police department
Boniface claims that Peter Donatello (right) and wife Patricia (left) purposely swerved their car towards her when she was in a parking lot, hitting her hand with their side mirror
The lawsuit claims that Boniface and the Donatellos have been at odds for a while, coming to a head after photos of the Donatello’s son, Peter Donatello III, were anonymously leaked to the Rochelle Park committee in early 2019.
In the photos – taken in December 2018 – Donatello’s son can be seen wearing an apparent yarmulke, complete with long, side curls. The images were supposedly taken at a going away party and posted on Facebook.
At the time, Donatello’s son was the Rochelle Park fire chief and a Maywood, New Jersey, police officer.
The person who leaked the photos said in an accompanying letter that they had Jewish relatives.
The letter writer claimed that although no one else was in at the party, Donatello’s son ‘decided that it would be funny to wear a make-shift Yamaka (sic) and parade around the Firehouse with it on and make fun of the Jewish Faith,’ according to NorthJersey.com.
The photo leaker also noted that ‘It’s bad enough to parade around a building, but to put it out for the Public to fully see is another issue’ and that Donatello’s son being both a fire chief and a police office, he ‘should have known better with what he was doing.’
The fallout from the picture incident included the photos being turned over to the Maywood Police Department’s Internal Affairs department and the mandate that Rochelle Park fire department volunteers attend a sensitivity and anti-harassment training session.
It’s unclear whether Dontello’s son faced any departmental reprimands or punishments over the photos.
NorthJersey.com reported that prior to the photo incident, Donatello and Boniface had quarreled with each other frequently, although it’s unclear what their arguments stemmed from.
Boniface’s lawsuit claimed that Donatello and wife Patricia believed that Boniface had leaked the yarmulke photo of their son and it was what had stopped their son from getting promoted beyond the position of sergeant in his police department.
She now claims that the car incident left her ’emotionally and psychologically traumatized’ and exacerbated a ‘pre-existing psychological condition’ she has, although it’s unclear what the condition is.
The lawsuit is asking for unspecified damages and court costs.
Peter and Patricia Donatello, who are named in the lawsuit, have not commented publicly about it yet.
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