Following an act of humanity, Asbury Park Police Captain Marshawn Love was demoted to sergeant. This reprimand follows a decision Love made on June 16, 2015.
Love left a crime scene in the Neptune Township, New Jersey. He drove a 7-year-old girl to the police department after she witnessed her father run and gun down her mother.
The little girl’s father Phil Seidle, 51, ran her mother Tamara Seidle’s black Volkswagen Jetta off the road. She was in the passenger seat of her dad’s silver Honda Pilot and a witness to the horrific act of domestic violence against her mother. The couple was newly divorced.
The chase ended moments later when Tamara, 51, crashed into a parked car. Seidle then emerged from his vehicle and fired his .40-caliber Glock service weapon several times into the woman’s vehicle through the driver’s side, fatally wounding Tamara. There was a 30-minute standoff with police.
Seidle is a cop. He was off-duty when he went into the rage. He’s a former sergeant with the Neptune Township Police Department, where he served on the force for 22 years.
Love has paid a price for his decision to leave the crime scene. Asbury Park city manager Michael Capabianco on Friday, Nov. 18 upheld charges of incompetency, neglect of duty and three other counts against Love. In addition to his demotion, Love was suspended for 120 days, with authorities saying he should have taken command of the scene. They say he shouldn’t have left the scene and should have taken command as the senior-most officer, but Love said he wasn’t the commanding officer there.
Seidle was originally charged with murder, but pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter and child endangerment, in a deal that helped him avoid a life sentence. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison in September after the plea deal. Two of his nine children asked the judge to lock him up for as long as possible. Their children range in age from 7 to 24.
