School official allegedly assaulted teen

A Board of Education member may be headed to court to defend himself against an accusation that he assaulted a teenage boy from Garwood.

Michael Timoni, 45, of Wheatsheaf Road, is a six-year veteran of the school board now beginning his third consecutive term. In a July 7 complaint filed in Garwood Municipal Court, Linda Russo of Anchor Place, Garwood, alleges that Timoni assaulted her son early last month.

"The allegations as they are stated on that ticket are denied, and have been responded to," Timoni said Tuesday afternoon.

The complaint was filed in Garwood but has been transferred to Roselle because of a conflict. Russo said the complaints may be headed to mediation instead.

Details on the alleged incident are scarce. A report by the Garwood Police Department indicates that authorities there received a 9-1-1 call at 11:57 a.m. July 2 from a resident who was reporting a group of people fighting in the street at Second Avenue and Winslow Place.

Garwood police arrived at the scene within two minutes, where they found six people fighting. In addition to Timoni, police listed as suspects Michael O'Donohue, 20, of Shackamaxon Drive, Westfield; Aldo Ramondelli, 72, of Walnut Avenue, Cranford; and Stephen Timoni, 49, of Autumn Drive, Scotch Plains.

The Garwood police report identifies the victim as a i6-year-oid from Anchor Place, Garwood.

A second 16-year-old, from Shackamaxon Drive, Westfield, also is listed as involved in the incident but the police report as released does not identify the Westfield teen either as a suspect or as a victim.

Russo also filed municipal complaints against Ramondelli and a Ryan O'Donohue of 865 Shackamaxon Drive, Westfield, alleging simple assault.

"I am not going to talk about it, period," Russo said. "My son is away. He is a minor, and it will be up to him if he would like to say something."

A call to Russo's attorney, Richard Butler of Union, was not returned.

The Garwood report says the fight was about a missing adult child from Clark, whom Timoni identified as his daughter Lauren.

Like Russo, Timoni declined to discuss the allegations, referring to the situation as "a fairly serious family problem" and as the "middle of a nightmare."

"When it started, my daughter was a minor.... This has been an ongoing problem for two families," he said. "I'm doing my best through my family attorney to settle this."

It was not known what effect the allegations could have on Timoni's participation in the Board of Education. Superintendent of Schools Paul Ortenzio, who works with Timoni in his role as a member of the school board's building and grounds committee, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Although Timoni generally is one of the quieter members on the school board and has avoided involving himself in some of the more explosive issues that have gained the board's attention, such as the debate over the discontinued gymnastics team, he has provided an active behind-the-scenes role in some of the board's other activities.

In previous discussions, Timoni has called his professional experience as a real estate appraiser and broker an asset to the board, particularly during its ultimately successful appeal of a public referendum that defeated a major facilities repair project.

At the moment, though, Timoni hopes to bring the problem to an ending.

 "The Timoni family is trying to make a comfortable resolution," he said.