Ex-Firefighter Accused of Arson Faces Drug Charges

A former Parsippany firefighter and suspended Morris County Sheriff's officer was arrested on drug charges Friday night following an undercover investigation, the Morris County Prosecutor's Office said Sunday.

Jason Campbell, 33, who was indicted last July on burglary, arson and official misconduct charges, was charged Friday night with third-degree possession of a controlled dangerous substance, third-degree conspiracy to possess a controlled dangerous substance, second-degree official misconduct and fourth-degree impersonating a police officer.

Campbell's wife, Jennifer, 32, was charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance and released with a summons.

A Crime Stopper tip led to an undercover investigation conducted by the Morris County Prosecutor's Office Special Enforcement Unit and Intelligence Crime Task Force with assistance from the Boonton Police Department, Lincoln Park Police Department and the New Jersey State Police, according to a statement released by Capt. Jeffrey Paul, a spokesman for Morris County Prosecutor Robert A. Bianchi, Sunday on the prosecutor's website.

State Police conducted a motor vehicle stop on Interstate 287 of a 2004 silver Dodge Ram pickup driven by Jason Campbell with his wife as the passenger Friday night at about 8:30 p.m., the prosecutor's office said.

Jason Campbell, who was suspended from the sheriff's office in February 2011, falsely identified himself to the State Trooper by showing a Morris County Sheriff's Office badge, Paul said.

Oxycodone was found in the vehicle and the couple was arrested, the prosecutor's office said.

Jason Campbell was transported to the Morris County Correctional Facility where he was held in lieu of $200,000 bail with no 10 percent option early Saturday morning, the prosecutor's office said.

Campbell was charged in February 2011 with two counts of second-degree aggravated arson, one count of third-degree burglary, four counts of second-degree official misconduct, one count of second-degree attempted aggravated arson and two counts of second-degree conspiracy to commit aggravated arson.

Campbell is accused of deliberately setting fires in Parsippany at 12 Ute Ave. on June 6, 2010 and 116 Old Bloomfield Ave. on Sept. 14, 2008.

Campbell was the acting chief for Parsippany Fire District No. 5 and a supervisor of the Morris County Sheriff's Office Explorer Program during the time of each of the fires, the prosecutor's office said.

According to the prosecutor's office, Campbell had one of the youth Explorers he surpervised help ignite the Old Bloomfield Avenue fire.

Campbell was and his "case is still pending the judicial system," Paul said Sunday.