Bergen County corrections officer left loaded gun in Jeep after DUI Crash

A Bergen County corrections officer who was arrested in July after an alleged drunken accident also left his service weapon in the car as it was towed away, leading to a late-night confrontation with local police when he and his union president crept into the impound lot to retrieve it, The Jersey Vindicator has learned.

Jeffrey Fenn, a 44-year-old guard at the Bergen County Jail in Hackensack, told Elmwood Park police he had been at a friend’s house just before the July 18 accident in which he slammed head-on into another car and sent the other driver to the hospital, according to arrest documents obtained by The Jersey Vindicator through the state’s Open Public Records Act.

Fenn, a 24-year law enforcement veteran, was slurring his words and made little sense as he failed a series of sobriety tests on River Road just before officers cuffed him, according to body camera footage of the arrest.

Police asked him repeatedly if his duty weapon was in the car. He repeatedly said it was not.

But three hours later, Fenn — who refused to take a breath test at the station — and police union head Jordan Kalender made a moonlit visit to the impound lot in nearby Hawthorne, where Kalender tried to get Fenn’s uniform and gun belt out of the officer’s wrecked black Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Kalender never mentioned Fenn’s gun — only his gun belt.

But Jason Williams, a justice studies professor at Montclair State University, watched the bodycam footage and said the union head clearly wanted the firearm back.

“Absolutely,” Williams said. “That’s what it looked like — trying to clean up the evidence. But you can’t do it. It messes up the chain of evidence. You can’t go into that car and touch anything and stain the scene.”

Randy Sabato, the Elmwood Park officer who arrested Fenn, arrived at the impound lot shortly after Kalender.

That’s when things got heated.

‘If I go in the car, what are you gonna’ do?’

Kalender, 50, could not hide his irritation when Sabato told him in no uncertain terms he was not allowed in Fenn’s SUV — and he got even angrier when Sabato would not turn off his bodycam.

“Jordan, you know you can’t go in the car though, right?” Sabato asked, according to the video footage.

“Why?” Kalender replied.

“You can’t go in — what do you want to get, his uniform?” Sabato asked.

“Yeah, I wanna’ get his uniform and his gun belt.”

“Is the gun in the gun belt?” Sabato asked.

Kalender muttered something unintelligible as he walked away.

“That’s what we’re trying to avoid here,” Sabato continued. “He told us the gun’s not in the belt, Jordan. You know what I’m saying? You can’t go in the car.”

After more back and forth with Sabato and his officer in charge, Kalender got frustrated.

“If I go in there, what are you gonna’ do?” Kalender said. “What if I open the door and take his uniform out of the car? That’s what I’m asking.”

“What do you need his uniform for?” Sabato asked.

“I’m not talking to you on camera,” Kalender replied. “I told you.”

“Jordan, you know I’m a cop. I can’t just turn this body camera off.”

“I get it. You could have talked to me before you got out of the car,” Kalender said. “That’s why I came up to [the police cruiser] to talk to you. But you automatically hit your camera because you know you can’t talk to me. I don’t understand what you guys are doing.”

Later, Sabato’s higher-ups cleared him to open Fenn’s trunk — with Kalender looming over his shoulder.

Inside the gun belt Kalender sought was Fenn’s fully loaded Glock handgun, which, according to Sheriff’s Office policy, was not supposed to be left in a vehicle unsecured and unattended.

“In an effort to prevent department-issued and personally owned firearms from being stolen, all personnel are reminded to appropriately secure their firearms when not being carried on their person,” Sheriff’s Office Chief Carmelo Giustra wrote in a January 2024 memo obtained by The Jersey Vindicator. “Firearms shall never be left unsecure.”

“Sworn personnel shall make every effort not to leave any firearms or ammunition unattended in a vehicle,” the memo continued. “The temporary storage of a firearm in a vehicle is strongly discouraged. If a firearm must be temporarily left in an unattended vehicle, the vehicle must be equipped with an appropriate locking safe/vault which is securely mounted to the vehicle.”

It is not clear what the penalties for violating that policy might be. Fenn, his attorney and the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to several requests for comment from The Jersey Vindicator.

Williams, the professor, said leaving an unsecured police handgun in an impound lot carries tremendous risk.

“Anyone could have gotten access to it,” Williams said. “There’s also heightened concern because it’s a law enforcement weapon — they have a higher magazine capacity. So [it’s dangerous] for a number of reasons, outside of just agency policy. It’s a danger to the community.”

Williams also said Fenn’s decision to allegedly drive drunk with his handgun in the car “speaks to a lack of judgment” on his part.

“It looks worse for an officer to be caught up in a DUI with their uniform, with their gun … it’s a horrible, horrible picture,” he said.

Elmwood Park Police Chief Michael Foligno told The Jersey Vindicator on Sept. 8 that he referred the incident to the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office shortly after it happened.

“I wanted to bring to their attention that this occurred,” Foligno said. “Whenever I’m dealing with potential police misconduct, I always err on the side of caution and run it by the prosecutor’s office.”

The county prosecutor declined to say whether the office is investigating.

“In any matter, including administrative and personnel cases, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office cannot confirm nor deny an investigation,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

It is also not clear why Fenn repeatedly told officers the gun was not in the car, or why he tried to retrieve it instead of telling police about the firearm.

Kalender — the longtime head of Policemen’s Benevolent Association Local 134, which represents the county sheriff’s and corrections officers — declined to comment when The Jersey Vindicator reached him last week.

“I’m not talking about this,” Kalender said. “It’s an ongoing investigation … I don’t even know why you’re writing about this.”

Another bodycam recording taken as the group was leaving the impound lot showed Kalender yelling and pointing his finger at Sabato as the Elmwood Park officer stood by his cruiser.

The video mostly lacked sound, except for a bit at the end when Kalender screamed, “A year and a half left!” — which likely referred to Fenn’s approaching retirement.

Then he walked back to his own SUV.

“I don’t know what they were trying to do,” Sabato told a pair of Hawthorne officers who rolled up during the encounter. “[Kalender] is pissed that my bodycam is on. But this is real work, I’m not doing stuff off the record here.”

Williams was fascinated by the interaction between the officers.

“Kalender thought things would be more collaborative and cooperative because ‘We all wear blue,’” he said. “I think once he realized that wasn’t the case, you could see a change in his posture … So much was said that wasn’t said.”

‘Do you have your gun on you right now?’

The arrest that sparked the interdepartmental squabble happened about three hours earlier, when Fenn made a wide right turn onto River Road in Elmwood Park — so wide that he careened into oncoming traffic and slammed head-on into a white Nissan Maxima.

The accident, which happened about 7:40 p.m., sent the Maxima’s tearful 24-year-old female driver to the hospital with back pain, according to police reports.

Fenn, meanwhile, got out of his Jeep and quickly asked officers to “help me out,” the bodycam footage showed.

“I just want to get out of here,” Fenn told Sabato. “Listen, I’m on the job bro … Bergen County Sheriff’s.”

“Listen, man, I’m gonna’ be honest with you: You’re kind of slurring a little bit,” Sabato replied. “I can’t help you out. You know how this goes.”

Fenn struggled to find his registration and insurance card, would not tell police how much he had to drink, and told them he had stopped drinking about an hour earlier.

When his arrest appeared imminent, he again begged for help.

“Please, please, please,” he said, his hands clasped. “Get me out of this … Don’t do this to me. This is f—ing terrible, man.”

“You know how this job works,” Sabato said. “You come around here, you hit a car, you come out, the first thing you say to me is, ‘You gotta’ help me out’ … it’s all on camera, dude.”

Fenn also swore to the officers that his service weapon was not in his SUV.

“Do you have your gun on you right now?” Patrolman Danny Maganinho asked just before Fenn failed his field sobriety tests.

“Nope,” Fenn replied.

“Your duty weapon, it’s at work?” Maganinho asked.

“Yeah!” Fenn responded.

Ten minutes later, Fenn reiterated that the gun was not inside.

“You said your duty weapon’s at home or at work?” Sabato asked.

“At work,” Fenn said. “100%.”