Police officer forfeits position after conviction
On Aug. 31, the Judge Ira E. Kreizman ordered Dean A. Hashimi, a 12-year veteran of the Jersey City Police Department, to forfeit his employment as a condition of a sentence imposed for a 2006 attempted insurance scam and false report to police.

Kreizman imposed a two-year term of probation upon Hashimi, 38, of Red Bank. Hashimi had previously pleaded guilty June 18 to the third-degree crime of attempted theft by deception.

The law requires that any person holding any public office, position or employment, elective or appointive, under the government of this state or any agency or political subdivision, who is convicted of a crime of the third degree or above, among other offenses, shall forfeit such office.

The forfeiture is mandatory under the law when a crime of the third degree or above is the underlying offense, such as the offense in this matter. Hashimi has forfeited his position as a Jersey City police officer as well as any future public employment.

On Nov. 1, 2006, Eatontown police responded to the Monmouth Mall to take a report of a stolen vehicle. Hashimi reported that his vehicle, a 2000 Audi, had been stolen from the Loews Theater parking lot.

As Eatontown police were investigating the car theft, the vehicle was located in Hillside. Given the timing of the report and location of the vehicle, Hashimi was brought to the Eatontown Police Department where the investigation revealed that he had falsely reported the theft of his own vehicle.

Monmouth County Prosecutor Luis A. Valentin credited the Eatontown Police Department for promptly solving the case.