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David Bender of the Hunters Glen apartment complex on Route 130 in Delran has been charged with strict liability for a drug-induced death and distribution of a controlled dangerous substance, according to Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina, Delran Township Police Chief Alfonso A. Parente Jr., and Riverside Police Chief William T. Eliason.
Bender was taken into custody on Thursday by Delran Township police officers and is being held in the Burlington County Jail in Mount Holly pending a detention hearing in Superior Court, they said.
An investigation began in October 2018 after Riverside Township police officers were called to an apartment to check on a man who was locked in a bedroom and unresponsive, Coffina said.
Police found the body of Kenneth Rocco, 38, the prosecutor said. Rocco was pronounced dead at the scene.
An autopsy by Burlington County Medical Examiner Dr. Ian Hood found that Rocco’s death was due to fentanyl toxicity.
Authorities concluded that the drugs that led to Rocco’s fatal overdose were purchased from Bender, Coffina said.
Bender will be prosecuted by Assistant Prosecutor Michael Angermeier, supervisor of the BCPO Gang, Gun and Narcotics Task Force.
The case was investigated by the Delran Township Police Department, the Riverside Township Police Department, the BCPO Gang, Gun and Narcotics Task Force and the BCPO High-Tech Crimes Unit.
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