#NJ police chief accused of racist, sexist comments steps down

A New Jersey police chief accused of making racist comments against the state’s Attorney General and sexist statements about the former county prosecutor has stepped down.

Acting Union County Prosecutor Lyndsay Ruotolo announced Monday that her office would temporarily take over the Fanwood Police department with the departure of Chief Richard Trigo.

“The Prosecutor’s Office looks forward to working with Mayor [Colleen] Mahr, the Borough of Fanwood’s leadership, residents, and officers, as partners while the Borough makes plans for the future of its police force,” Ruotolo said in a statement.

The news came just over a week after audio recordings surfaced of Trigo allegedly remarking that the former prosecutor, Grace Park, was “pretty hot” and that “she got wide ones,” according to a video posted to YouTube on July 4.

The ousted chief also allegedly was captured saying of Sikh New Jersey AG Gurbir Grewal, “Oh that f–kin’ guy with the turban? I want to pull him like a top,” the video says.

Trigo told borough officials on Friday that he would be stepping down effect Monday, according to the prosecutor’s office.

Joshua McMahon, an attorney for the chief, said Trigo was going out on family leave until his official retirement date of Sept. 1.

McMahon had claimed the chief’s retirement was already in the works.

But when pressed Monday, McMahon said chief’s paperwork was filed moments before 10:40 a.m. last Wednesday — four days after the remarks were posted online and just hours before NJ.com broke the news of the recordings.

The Union County Prosecutor’s Office acknowledged the investigation in the chief’s remarks on Wednesday, the report says.

“We only learned about it when we were contacted by reporters,” McMahon told The Post Monday.

McMahon has denied his client made the comments, telling the out they were “manipulated and spliced.”