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NJ Detective Required To Sell Handguns Later Reported One As Stolen: Prosecutor

A 47-year-old police detective from the Jersey Shore was required to sell handguns due to a restraining order, authorities said. And in 2022, Matthew Curtis signed paperwork saying he did, according to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer.

Matthew Curtis

Matthew Curtis

Photo Credit: Ocean County Prosecutor's Office

But months later, when some of his guns were stolen out of his car in Little Egg Harbor, the Island Heights detective filed a police report saying that one of the firearms he had claimed he sold was among the items stolen, Billhimer said.

Curtis — who once helped deliver a baby — was subsequently charged on Monday, Feb. 13 with with providing a False Report to Law Enforcement Authorities, Contempt of a Judicial or Protective Order, and being a Certain Person prohibited from Possessing a Weapon.

The charges result from an investigation conducted by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Professional Standards Unit, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Domestic Violence/Weapons Squad, and Little Egg Harbor Township Police Department. 

Curtis was required to surrender any guns that he owned pursuant to the imposition of a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) issued against him on May 11, 2022, the prosecutor said. 

On that date, Curtis surrendered a number of weapons to law enforcement. Two days later, he wrote and signed a letter saying he sold three of his registered handguns prior to the issuance of the TRO, and indicated he no longer owned the weapons.

A subsequent weapons trace conducted by the United States Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives indicated, however, found that Curtis remained the registered owner of the subject handguns, Billhimer said.

On Dec. 11, 2022, Curtis filed a report with the Little Egg Harbor Police Department, saying that three handguns were stolen from his unlocked personal vehicle in front of his home. 

The investigation revealed that one of those handguns he reported stolen was one of the weapons he claimed to have sold prior to the issuance of the TRO. That same weapon was recovered from a defendant accused of a motor vehicle theft and eluding in Essex County, Billhimer said.

On Tuesday, Feb. 14, Curtis was processed at the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office and released on a summons pending a future appearance in Ocean County Superior

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