ASBURY PARK PRESS

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MONDAY 10.03.16

Seahawks
crash Jets
Gang Green is dominated
in second straight loss.
Sports, 1D

MIRACULOUS RESCUE FROM DROWNING

WAKING FROM
A NIGHTMARE

Colts Neck
police chief
probe costs
at least $31K
KAREN YI @KAREN_YI

COLTS NECK - The township has spent at least

$31,000 in legal fees related to its investigation of Police
Chief Kevin Sauter, invoices released to the Asbury
Park Press show.
The legal bills were submitted by attorneys representing the town and retired judge Robert OHagan, who
presided over Sauters disciplinary hearing. Township
officials said Sauter, a veteran member of the Police Department, broke the rules when he attended a training
trip in Chicago last October.
OHagan, who was hired by Colts Neck to mediate the
matter, said Sauter did not seek permission from the appropriate governing body to attend and pay for the conference; collected his regular salary instead of using vacation days during his stay; and directed an on-duty
Colts Neck police officer to pick up the chief, his wife
and another chief from the airport when they returned.
OHagan recommended a five-day unpaid suspension; the Township Committee later approved it.
OHagan billed the town $12,110, records show. The
See CHIEF, Page 2A

PHOTO COURTESY OF MATT KALAFAT

Dishita Pandya hugs Matt Kalafat, who pulled her unconscious body from the surf in Point Pleasant Beach.

As Im underwater, Im thinking I lost her. Shes back out

there. Matt Kalafat, who helped rescue Dishita Pandya

PHOTO: JENNIFER S. ALTMAN

Terry Strada is pictured with her three children: Kaitlyn, 5,

Thomas, 8, Justin, 11-months.

AMANDA OGLESBY @OGLESBYAPP

BRICK More than 24 hours after Dishita Pandyas heart stopped,

fore. This time though, the weakness was real. She found herself in

By some miracle of
God, or Buddha or
fate, her body was
literally right in
front of my body.

a hospital bed in Ocean Medical Center in Brick, attached to a ma-

MATT KALAFAT

she awoke from a dream of paralysis, one shes had many times be-

chine that breathed for her. Pandya, 26, a doctor from India who is

into the ocean in Point Pleasant Beach and nearly drowned.

These things
happen to happen
to other people.
You only hear
about them. Its
unbelievable.

See RESCUE, Page 8A

DISHITA PANDYA

finishing her American medical residency at Mount Sinai Health

System in New York, woke up more than a day after she had waded

Brookdales DiBella takes leave

SUSANNE CERVENKA @SCERVENKA

SUSANNE CERVENKA/STAFF PHOTO

Joseph DiBella (left) sits with Brookdale President Maureen

Murphy and Carl Guzzo at a board of trustees meeting.

No apologies needed by
Trump, Christie says as candidates allies rebut tax story. 1B

ADVICE
BUSINESS
CLASSIFIED
COMICS
LOCAL

3C
6A
5C
4C
3A

MIDDLETOWN - Brookdale Community College

trustee Joseph DiBella is taking a leave of absence
after he said the school received a death threat
aimed at him.
DiBella has been under fire since late August
when it was revealed his Twitter account was linked
to likes on tweets that used a racial slur and referred to President Barack Obama as a monkey.
DiBella maintains that his account was hackedand
has asked the Monmouth County Prosecutors Office
to investigate.
The death threat has materially affected not only
my safety but that of my family. I cannot and will not
continue to put my family in this position. Until the
investigations into the unlawful hacking and the
death threat are complete, I will take a leave of absence from my position on the Board of Trustees of
Brookdale Community College, effective immediately, DiBella wrote in a letter he forwarded to
See BROOKDALE, Page 2A

LOTTERIES
OBITUARIES
OPINION
SPORTS
WEATHER

2A
7A
9A
1D
8D

VOLUME 137
NUMBER 237
SINCE 1879

9/11 families had

long fight for right
to sue the Saudis
BRIAN J. TUMULTY USA TODAY NETWORK

WASHINGTON - Terry Strada sounded exultant the

day after watching Congress deliver President Obama
the first veto override of his eight years in office,
thanks largely to her efforts.
We beat them bad, Strada said with a laugh Thursday from her home in the New Vernon section of Harding, in Morris County, over the sounds of her sons basketball practice. We gave them a whupping.
The bill at the center of the veto battle was deeply
personal for Strada, whose husband died in the 2001 terrorist attacks. The legislation, which became law with
the override vote, allows 9/11 families like hers to file
suit against Saudi Arabia based on claims the country
was implicated in the attacks.
Strada, a 53-year-old mother of three, headed the
group of 9/11 families who championed the Justice
Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, or JASTA, which
Strada says will ultimately reveal where Osama bin
Laden got the financing and other assistance for the
See 9/11, Page 8A