Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced the arrest of 20-year-old DARREN E. JACOBS of Yonkers, NY (employed as a Cliffside Park Emergency Medical Technician) on the charge of purposeful destruction of patient care medical records. The arrest is the result of an investigation conducted by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office under the direction of Chief Matthew Finck.
On November 22, 2024, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Confidential Investigations Unit received information regarding the alleged destruction of reports/charts associated with medical calls for service in Cliffside Park, NJ. An investigation conducted by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office revealed that between September 2024 and November 2024, DARREN E. JACOBS, while employed by the borough of Cliffside Park Emergency Medical Services (“EMS”) as an Emergency Medical Techician (“EMT”), destroyed several patient care medical records/charts.
As a result of the investigation, on Thursday, January 30, 2025, DARREN E. JACOBS was arrested in Paramus, NJ and charged with fourth-degree purposeful destruction, alteration or falsification of a record relating to care of a medical patient, N.J.S.A. 2C:21-4.1. JACOBS was released pending a first appearance in Bergen County Superior Court in Hackensack, NJ.
Prosecutor Musella states that the charge is merely an accusation, and that the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
