East Orange police officer Kareem Spence, center, is escorted from police headquarters after his arrest on insurance fraud charges in March.EAST ORANGE — A former East Orange police officer admitted today to torching his car on an Essex County street last year so he could collect on the insurance, authorities said.
Kareem Spence, 35, of South Plainfield, faces up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to insurance fraud for setting fire to his 2002 Cadillac Coupe DeVille on Rich Street in Irvington in May 2009, said Acting Essex County Prosecutor Robert Laurino. Spence claims he set the blaze because the vehicle, on which he owed $8,000, had 122,000 miles on it and repeatedly overheated.
Investigators from the Irvington Fire Department and the prosecutor’s arson unit suspected the car fire was set intentionally after they found towels soaked in gasoline in the vehicle’s trunk.
Spence, who had been an officer since 2007, was arrested March 31, a day after the prosecutor’s office unsealed a three-count indictment charging him with aggravated arson, insurance fraud and attempted theft by deception. He was arrested at the East Orange police headquarters after he appeared for what he believed was a departmental hearing.
As part of Spence’s plea deal, the arson and theft charges were dropped, Laurino said. The officer was suspended indefinitely following his arrest, said city police spokesman Sgt. Andrew Dielmo, and he recently resigned from the department.
City Police Director Jose Cordero today called Spence’s actions a betrayal.
"This ex-officer’s dishonest behavior is disheartening and a betrayal of the oath he swore to uphold," Cordero said. "Importantly, his dealings are not indicative of the many honest, hardworking and brave police officers of the East Orange Police Department."
Spence will be sentenced in February. Assistant Prosecutor Michael Morris, head of the prosecutor’s vehicle fire initiative, said his office takes insurance crimes seriously.
"The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office will prosecute the crime of insurance fraud no matter who you are and no matter what you do for a living," Morris said.
• East Orange police officer is arrested for allegedly torching his Cadillac