Charges linger in case of purloined gasoline

The wheels of justice turn slowly sometimes, and as they do, they leave people wondering why that is so.

On March 22 the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office issued a press release that said that Harry Conover, the coordinator of the Monmouth County Office of Emergency Manage-ment, had been charged with official misconduct, tampering with public records or information, and theft in connection with an incident that occurred on March 13.

According to the press re-lease, an investigation revealed that on March 13 at about 1:30 p.m., Conover, 58, went to the Monmouth County Central Motor Pool on Center Street in Freehold Township with the privately owned vehicle of another county employee and obtained about 7.8 gallons of gasoline for the vehicle.

After receiving the gasoline, Conover completed a gasoline inventory form on which he falsely represented that the gasoline had been placed in his assigned county vehicle, according to the press release.

Upon being charged, Conover went on administrative leave from his job without pay.

A Monmouth County spokeswoman told the News Transcript on July 25 that Conover re-mained on administrative leave without pay.

Conover could not be reached for comment. We welcome him or his attorney to express their feelings on this matter.

The press release issued by Prosecutor Luis Valentin in March stated that the matter involving Conover and gasoline was pending review by a Mon-mouth County grand jury.

On July 25, First Assistant Prosecutor Peter E. Warshaw Jr. told the News Transcript there was no update on the case.

We wonder how that can be.

How can a person be charged with multiple offenses, removed from his job and then hear nothing?

We are not making any judgment on Conover's guilt or innocence in this matter, but we do express frustration on behalf of a citizenry that sees serious charges made against a well-known individual and then no action subsequent to that from the legal system for many months.

Can the case of the stolen 7.8 gallons of gasoline be that difficult to resolve? Maybe someday the residents of Monmouth County will see a resolution to this case involving a high-ranking county employee.