N.J. Man ‘Slips’ His Way into Trouble; Claimed Fall in Picking up Newspaper

New Jersey Criminal Justice Director Vaughn McKoy announced that an Ocean County man has been sentenced after pleading guilty to charges of perjury and falsifying records as part of a phony “slip and fall” bodily injury lawsuit.

According to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden-Brown, Robert P. Scott, 55, of Point Pleasant, Ocean County, was ordered by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Bette Uhrmacher to pay more than $10,000 in restitution and to serve three years probation. The sentence is pursuant to Scott’s Feb. 7 guilty plea to a criminal Accusation filed by the Division of Criminal Justice – Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor. The Accusation charged Scott with perjury and falsifying records. Scott paid the $10,056 restitution prior to sentencing.

At the guilty plea hearing, Scott reportedly admitted that between Nov. 19, 2001 and March 21, 2003, he filed a false slip and fall law suit against the Asbury Park Press newspaper.

In the lawsuit, Scott asserted that, as he was attempting to retrieve a copy of the Asbury Park Press from his front porch, he “slipped and fell,” which resulted in physical injuries. Specifically, Scott claimed in depositions and interrogations that the newspaper was “negligently” placed on his front porch by an Asbury Park Press newspaper delivery person and, as a result of the placement, he fell and injured himself. An investigation by the Division of Criminal Justice determined that Scott lied under oath in the depositions and interrogatories.

While the lawsuit was dismissed by Judge Ronald Lee Reisner of Monmouth County on March 21, 2003, the Asbury Park Press spent in excess of $10,000 defending Scott’s fraudulent claim.