TOMS RIVER, NJ – A man who was arrested last year for painting a blue line down the center of Hooper Avenue then leaving a boom truck parked in Mayor Mo Hill’s parking spot has been arrested again. This time, installing blue lights. Dave Giordano says he supports police, but is also protesting what he calls “bad apples”.
This week, he attached a car battery to a string of blue lights and left them in the center lane outside the Ocean County Justice Complex on Hooper Avenue.
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On February 5, 2022, at approximately 9:00 p.m., Officers from the Toms River Township Police Department were dispatched to the area of Hooper Avenue and Washington Street for a report of a suspicious item in the roadway. Responding officers observed a car battery with a power inverter attached to it.
“A strand of blue LED Christmas lights was plugged into the power inverter and the other end of the lights was attached to a Clorox bleach bottle containing liquid. The device was set up in the center of Hooper Avenue between the Ocean County Courthouse and the Ocean County Administration Building,” the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said. “Out of concern that the device might be explosive in nature, the area between Hooper Avenue, Madison Avenue, and Washington Street was shut down to traffic. A subsequent investigation by the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Unit, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit-Arson Squad, New Jersey State Police Bomb Unit, and Berkeley Township Hazardous Materials Unit, was able to determine that the device in the roadway was not an improvised explosive device. Further investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit-Arson Squad and Toms River Township Police Department revealed that Giordano was responsible for placing the device in the roadway.”
Giordano said he doesn’t see himself as a criminal, but as a crusader of justice and accountability.
“I stand for Blue Lives matter I am pro-police. However, there are some bad apples. I will continue My support for the police. By lighting up the town with blue lights. Until they arrest me for it,” Giordano told Shore News Network after he left his latest public display of protest. “Blue lights represent cops, but not all cops. It represents the good cops. When the blue line was painted on Hooper Ave. no one understood why Someone that hates police Would support the police. It is time for the state of New Jersey to take notice that police brutality and cover-ups of police brutality are over.”
The prosecutor’s office said that on February 6, 2022, a warrant was issued for Giordano’s arrest for causing false public alarm. On February 7, 2022, Giordano was involved in a motor vehicle accident on the Garden State Parkway near Bloomfield, NJ. He was taken to a medical facility in Belleville, NJ, and treated for his injuries. Prior to his release from the hospital, Giordano was taken into custody by Officers from the Toms River Township Police Department. Giordano was searched incident to his arrest, and Officers discovered him to be in possession of alprazolam, methamphetamine, and drug paraphernalia. As such, Giordano was additionally charged with Possession of Alprazolam in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:35-10a(1), Possession of Methamphetamine in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:35-10a(1), and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:36-2a. Giordano is presently lodged in the Ocean County Jail pending a detention hearing.
Giordano was recently arrested inside Toms River Town Hall for creating a disturbance after being denied access to public records. Giordano said he was upset with the township’s fight against homeowners being victimized by the town and federal officials and wanted to organize an effort to unite those homeowners.
“I was extremely upset due to the fact that Toms River Township denied an OPRA request which stands for open public records act,” he said. “I was requesting 800 addresses of homes like his that were in noncompliance for not being brought up to current codes in flood zones. I wanted the address of all of the victims so that I could have them join a group called TR is causing substantial damage, to its citizens.”
Giordano allegedly would not leave the town hall until he received the addresses, but was arrested for trespassing and creating a disturbance.
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