Prospect Park Mayor Mohamed Khairullah was arrested in 2002 on domestic violence charges after his then-wife accused him of assaulting her, but the criminal complaint was eventually dropped.
Khairullah is challenging Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson) in next week’s Democratic primary for the 9th congressional district.
Worried that her husband’s political connections – he was a 27-year-old first-term councilman at the time – might cause the local police to side with Khairullah, N.K. , instead reported the alleged assault to the Clifton Police Department to seek a temporary restraining order.
The charges against Khairullah first surfaced in 2005 when he was about to become mayor of the small Passaic County municipality. A flier detailing the domestic violence arrest was sent to residents anonymously in a plain white envelope that didn’t include a return address. The story was broken by Herald News reporter Paul Brubaker, who later went to work for Pascrell and U.S. Senator Bob Menendez.
Khairullah held a news conference that promised to produce N.K., who were separated and in the process of divorcing. But N.K. wound up not attending, and Khairullah instead released a signed statement on her behalf saying it was just a family dispute.
The New Jersey Globe contacted Khairullah seven times over the last two days by phone and text message, but he did not respond to requests for comment. Khairullah’s spokesman, Vernon Richardson, was informed last night that the subject was the 2002 arrest; Richardson also ducked subsequent calls and text messages.
Khairullah was also charged with simple assault in 2020, but the charges were later dismissed. A 2005 harassment complaint against him was also dropped.
Steven Damiano, now a Prospect Park police sergeant, was present during the questioning of N.K. and was assigned to serve Khairullah with the TRO. Reached by the New Jersey Globe today, Damiano declined to comment.
Records show that Khairullah was arrested for aggravated assault and attempting to cause bodily harm with a deadly weapon on November 29, one day after N.K.filed her complaint.
The case was transferred to the Totowa Municipal Court, but N.K. “did not wish to pursue” the charges against her husband, and the matter was dismissed on court records show.
Since then, Prospect Park voters have elected Khairullah six times.
The New Jersey Globe has withheld the name of the victim, identifying her only by her initials.