Beach Haven cop left handgun near children, prosecutor says

A Beach Haven police sergeant was charged with endangering the welfare of a child after an investigation found that he left a Baretta 9mm handgun unsecured and his 15-year-old son took the gun and brought it to an elementary school in Manahawkin.

Andrew Wahlberg, 50,  was charged by summons after a probe conducted by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s office and the Stafford Township Police Department

Police reports claim that Stafford police responded to a park at the Ocean Hills Elementary School on May 18 after multiple 911 calls reported a person brandishing a handgun.  Witnesses identified  the individual as Wahlberg’s son.

The 15-year-old had no gun in his possession when police located him.

Wahlberg told police “that he owned a Beretta and stated that he had just returned from the firearms range and that he had a bag of guns that he just brought in and put in his room, prior to running out to attend a meeting,” according to the prosecutor’s report.

Soon after, Wahlberg’s son admitted to concealing the baretta inside the backpack that police located nearby and was placed under arrest.

Beach Haven Police Chief James Markoski said that Wahlberg is currently out on leave and will be suspended without pay pending approval by the state Civil Service Commission.

Prosecutors say that this was the second time Wahlberg had left his firearms unsecured and his children subsequently gained access to them.  Last summer, his 13-year-old son posted a photo on social media holding the gun, and that photo was distributed to middle-aged children.   Wahlberg told investigators that his son was supposed to be staying with his mother but snuck into his home.  The son, Wahlberg said, retrieved the gun from an unlocked dresser drawer.

The July 2021 incident was reported to the Beach Haven Police Department, but not to the prosecutor, and no charges were field.

Between 2012 and 2016, Walberg was involved in six total uses of force, roughly triple the average of the Beach Haven Police Department.