A neighbor dispute in Berkeley Heights escalated into a police standoff Tuesday when David Connolly allegedly barricaded himself inside a Mountain Avenue home and threatened responding officers, according to Daily Voice. Connolly was taken into custody without incident after Berkeley Heights police requested assistance from the Union County SWAT team.
Police were initially sent to the residence to investigate the dispute, the report said. Connolly refused to open the door and warned that “somebody is going to get shot,” prompting the tactical response. Authorities reported no injuries, and the circumstances that led to the neighbor dispute have not been disclosed.
Threat allegation led to tactical response
The reported threat was directed at officers during their attempt to make contact, according to the account. Union County SWAT officers joined local police, and Connolly was later arrested without a reported exchange of gunfire. Police have not said whether a weapon was recovered or identified any other alleged threat made during the standoff.
New Jersey appellate guidance says an alleged threat under N.J.S.A. 2C:12-3(a) is evaluated in part by whether a reasonable person in the victim’s position would have understood the words as threatening violence, according to the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division. That legal standard is separate from the allegations in Connolly’s case, which have not been tested at trial.
Charge and custody
Connolly was charged with terroristic threats and lodged in the Essex County Correctional Facility, according to police as cited by Daily Voice. He is awaiting a detention hearing. The charge is an accusation, and Connolly remains entitled to the presumption of innocence.
His placement outside Union County reflects the county’s correctional arrangement rather than the location of the alleged incident. County records say that, under an agreement completed in 2021, people incarcerated from Union County are housed at the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark. The Union County jail in Elizabeth operates as an intake, processing, temporary-detention and transport hub, according to the County of Union.
Officials have not publicly described the original neighbor dispute, said whether anyone else was inside the home, or released additional details about the alleged threats. Those questions remain unresolved as the case moves into court proceedings.
