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The 34-year-old Orange man is first accused of approaching the owner of a home on North Passaic Avenue in Chatham Borough and asking about a room for rent around 11:50 a.m. on April 26, police said.
When the owner told the man that he was mistaken, the man asked to enter the home and use a phone — a request the owner declined, police said.
The man, whose name was not immediately released by police, allegedly made “vulgar and bias type comments” before leaving the property.
A short time later, a woman reported the same man for making harassing comments to her at the Main Street service station, police said.
He is subsequently accused of acting disorderly during a similar incident at a Main Street grocery store in Madison.
The man was charged with one count of harassment and is scheduled to appear in court.
Bias incidents — unlawful acts that occur against a person or property on the basis of New Jersey’s nine protected classes (race, color, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, and national origin) — should be reported to your local police department. Reports can stay anonymous.
“Chatham Borough Police Department is continuing to work with the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office on this case and wants to express that all cases involving bias will be comprehensively and aggressively investigated and prosecuted,” the department said. “We will maintain Zero Tolerance to acts of bias by anyone!”
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