Cocho, age 47, of Maple St. in the Monmouth Mobile Home Park off Route 1 was arrested and charged with torturing an animal after he had sex with his landlady's dog.

The 33-year-old landlady, Dorothy Gallagher told officers she became worried when she heard Daisy, a 2-year-old mixed beagle "barking as if it was in pain" police said.  The Gallagher told officers she went out to look for her pet, but couldn't immediately find her.  She then looked in Cocho's room and saw him having sex with Daisy.  "It doesn't get any sicker than that," Gallagher, said.

Questioned by police, Cocho denied assaulting the dog but police said evidence linking him to the crime was found in his room.

Cocho was charged with torturing an animal and with illegal possession of a dagger that officers found in his room.  Cocho was sent to Middlesex County Adult Corrections Center in lieu of $1000 bail.

The dog was taken to a local animal hospital for evaluation.

Update 11/12/02:

Reacting to a threatening phone call to 911, police searched for a "biological bomb' at the home of Cocho.

Specialists from the State Police Domestic Preparedness Unit, a bomb-sniffing dog from the Middlesex County Sheriff's Office, county authorities and township police descended on a Maple Street home at the Monmouth Mobile Home Park.

They found no explosives. But they seized journals containing passages that included "various conspiracy theories" penned by Cocho, said South Brunswick police detective Jim Ryan.

Police arrested Cocho on charges of torturing an animal, a fourth-degree offense, a crime that could bring him 18 months in prison if convicted. Ryan said police also discovered a dagger in Cocho's room and charged him with possession of a weapon, a third-degree crime that carries a prison term of three to five years if convicted.

While that arrest took place, Cocho "made assertions about having a dirty bomb," Ryan said. "He also made comments about the CIA, the FBI and the Mafia coming after him."

Gallagher said Cocho worked in the mail room of a large corporation, but quit recently.  "He left ... because he thought the business was owned by the Mafia and that satellites were after him," Gallagher said. "Everything was Mafia-owned."

He rented the room from her for a couple of months and appeared harmless, she said, adding that she thought his strange ramblings "were just a lot of talk."

Six hours after the arrest, while Cocho remained in jail, State Police 911 operators received a call from a man claiming to be part of a "specific group" that planted a "biological bomb" in the mobile home park, Ryan said. He would not elaborate on the group or the message, but said the caller did not specify an address.  The voice was altered, possibly by electronic means, Ryan said.

Cocho's remarks and the area mentioned in the threat led police to seek a search warrant to return to the Maple Street home where Cocho was arrested.

Ryan said investigators determined the call was not made from the correction center where Cocho was incarcerated.

In Cocho's journal entries, he expressed a strong hatred for some minority groups, the Home News Tribune, doctors from Saint Peter's University Hospital in New Brunswick, employees at his former place of work, an undercover police officer and a long list of others, Ryan said.

"He thinks the Home News Tribune is going to burn down the Kendall Park Shopping Center," Ryan said, referring to another entry.

No one from the Monmouth Mobile Home Park was evacuated during the search.

Update 11/15/02:

Two criminal charges of cruelty to animals and two civil cruelty charges were filed against Cocho, by the Middlesex County SPCA who was being held in the Middlesex County jail in lieu of $25,000 bail.

Police originally charged Cocho with torturing the dog, a fourth-degree criminal offense, but the charge was downgraded to cruelty, a disorderly persons offense, by the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office and sent to municipal court.

If he is convicted of all of the criminal cruelty charges, he could face up to two years in jail and $5,000 in fines.

Cocho plead not guilty to 6 disorderly persons charges during his teleconference arraignment in court from the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center in North Brunswick.

Update 12/12/02:

"It was wrong, and that is how I plan on dealing with it," South Brunswick Municipal Court Judge Michael Dowgin said to Cocho

Dowgin then imposed a 60-day jail term, $1,500 in fines, and a year of supervised probation on Cocho.

Cocho, standing handcuffed and passive in front of Dowgin, pleaded guilty to one count of criminal torture of an animal and two civil counts of animal torture and cruelty.

The charges stem from a Nov. 9 incident at the mobile home of Dorothy Gallagher in the Monmouth Mobile Home Park on Route 1, where Cocho rented a room.  Gallagher said that she rented a room to Cocho in August because he was a friend of a friend, and needed a place to stay.

"He was helping fix up the place," she said.  According to the police report, there were six other dogs inside the home when they arrived on the scene to question Cocho.

After investigating the incident, police arrested Cocho at the home, and charged him with torture/torment of animals and unlawful possession of a weapon — a 12-inch dagger police discovered in his room.  The weapons charge was later dismissed because police could not determine that Cocho had the dagger for an unlawful purpose.  The other charges were downgraded to a disorderly persons offense.

Court-appointed defense attorney Rhinold Ponder of Piscataway said that he felt Dowgin’s sentence was fair, and that Cocho helped prepare his defense.  "He clearly understood what the charges were and the ramifications," Ponder said.  He will get credit for the 29 days that he has already served since being arrested on Nov. 9, according to Dowgin.

Reference:

The North Brunswick Sentinel

The Star Ledger

Ashbury Park Press