Fire Rescue News -Former Atlantic City firefighter takes plea after threatening wife
By LYNDA COHEN Staff Writer | Posted: Thursday, January 21, 2010 | 6 comments
A former Atlantic City firefighter pleaded guilty Wednesday to threatening to kill his wife.
Robert Wenzel, 43, faces as long as five years probation but will not serve any jail time, according to the plea agreement.
He admitted Wednesday that he was in Missouri when he called his former wife March 14 and threatened her life.
"I told her I was going to kill her," Wenzel told Superior Court Judge Bernard DeLury in Mays Landing....Continue Reading
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As a result of the threat, the Galloway Township school their daughter was attending, along with the Atlantic City school where the woman works, were locked down.
Wenzel was eventually arrested in Kentucky, after he hit a car in a parking lot and left the scene. A local television news crew happened to capture the incident and called police.
"He was going through a very difficult time," defense attorney Matthew Portella said outside the courtroom. "He's doing so much better now."
Under the plea agreement, Wenzel must continue to receive counseling and has forfeited all his firearms. Several other guns seized by investigators but not owned by Wenzel must be returned to the proper people, DeLury ordered.
More than a year before the incident, Wenzel was put on leave from his job at the Fire Department to seek treatment for an undisclosed problem. He was cleared to return Feb. 18, but when he failed to show up five days in a row, he was fired.
It's not clear whether the former firefighter - who is now working in construction - would be able to return to public work. The state reserves the right to ask for a ban of such employment, Assistant Prosecutor Harlee Stein said.
Wenzel will be sentenced Feb. 11.
Contact Lynda Cohen: 609-272-7257 LCohen@pressofac.com
Posted in Breaking, Atlantic on Thursday, January 21, 2010 8:00 am Updated: 8:16 am.
