Police Charge Man with Witness Tampering and False Reports
South Brunswick Police Chief Raymond Hayducka announced that a man under house arrest in Florida, awaiting trial for vehicular homicide, has been charged by South Brunswick Police with witness tampering and filing two false police reports. The new charges stem from an internal affairs investigation into allegations of police misconduct. Police believe Ajinkya Kelkar age 21 of Boca Raton, Florida made the false reports to obstruct and impede his upcoming New Jersey court proceedings.
The investigation began on Sunday February 12th at 12:20pm when an anonymous caller contacted police headquarters to alleged police misconduct. The caller told police that officers had been sent to a call on Saturday evening about a party off Davidson Mill Road. The caller said one of the responding officers had covered up the party and failed to take action. An investigation by the head of the South Brunswick Police Department Professional Standards Bureau, Lieutenant James Kinard found that there was no incident on Saturday night. The investigation found that on Saturday February 11th an anonymous caller had contacted police to report a party off Davidson Mill Road, but when officers arrived there were no signs of any event. The investigation traced the calls back to Ajinkya Kelkar who was under house arrest in Florida. Police believe Kelkar made the false reports as a result of his May arrest in South Brunswick. Kelkar believed the allegations would impact officers involved with his May arrest from testifying in his upcoming court proceedings.
Chief Hayducka said, “People who lie and make up false allegations against police officers will be charged when we can prove it. In this case it is clear that Mr. Kelkar called in a false police report which generated officers going to a false call. He then called in a false allegation of police misconduct, which created an investigation into actions that never took place. He did all this in an attempt to delay the justice system and his day in court.” He added, “We take all complaints seriously and investigate them to the fullest extent. In this case it resulted in criminal charges.”
Kelkar, a former South Brunswick resident was charged in May 2016 with causing over $10,000 in damage in the Township. He has a March 3, 2017 court appearance on those charges. In Florida he is awaiting court proceedings for a July 2016 crash. He faces DUI manslaughter, leaving the scene of a crash involving death, vehicular homicide, reckless driving causing serious bodily injuries to another and DUI causing injury to person or property.
