Jersey City DWI arrest costs crimebuster his job with Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor

Thursday, March 25, 2010
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

An organized crime investigator for the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor has been canned following his arrest on drunk driving charges in Jersey City after he sideswiped a police car on St. Patrick's Day, officials said.

Michael Kelly, 44, of Pearl River, who retired from the New York Police Department less than a year ago, was fired by the Waterfront Commission Tuesday, said Waterfront Commission General Counsel Michele Meyer-Shipp yesterday.

Last week's Jersey Journal story on Kelley's arrest noted that reports said he was also issued a summons for refusing to take a Breathalyzer test following his arrest on Tonnelle Avenue, just north of the Tonnelle Circle, after the 11:15 p.m. crash.

The Jersey City police car was stopped at Tonnelle and County Road with its lights flashing at the scene of an accident with injuries when Kelley's pickup truck struck it, reports said. The pickup was stopped by police a short distance away and an officer said Kelley's eyes were bloodshot, his clothes disheveled, and his speech slurred, reports said.

The pickup had impact damage and a flat tire and the police car's right fender was damaged.

The Waterfront Commission was established August 1953 to investigate criminal activity in the Port of New York and New Jersey.