Officer Robert Gavares of the Old Bridge Township Police Department responded to a single-vehicle crash involving a father and his two young children, one of whom had a compound leg fracture. It was later found that the father had a high blood alcohol content, and he was charged with driving while intoxicated. An internal affairs investigation found that Gavares failed to properly investigate the crash, resulting in sustained neglect of duty and performance of duty charges. No criminal charges were sustained. Gavares received a 21-day suspension and a monetary penalty.
Officers responded to a single vehicle crash involving a father and his 2 young children. One child had a compound leg fracture. Officer Gavares and Sgt. Machen were on scene. Father went to hospital with daughter. Later, while at the hospital it was found that the father had a high BAC after being treated for his own injuries. Middlesex County Prosecutors Office advised us to charge the father with DWI, which we did. They then opened an internal affairs investigation against Machen and Gavares. The outcome of the IA investigation was that Gavares failed to properly investigate the crash leading to sustained and performance of duty charges. Since Machen was the supervisor on scene for everything the outcome of the same investigation was sustained charges for and failure to supervise. No criminal charges were sustained against the officers, only administrative charges.
Similar records
AnalysisComputed by this site from shared agency, year, charge category, and sanction outcome. Not a legal or factual equivalence.
Michael Machen · Old Bridge Township Police Department · 2025
Suspended 10 days
Sustained charge(s): Neglect of duty
same agency · same year · similar charge category · similar sanction outcome
The amount is as reported by the New Jersey Department of the Treasury in its YourMoney pension data, as of March 31, 2026. It is the pension-basis figure and may not include overtime, accrued leave, stipends, or other pay. The link between this officer and this pension record is a records-based match at high confidence (exact name and exact employing agency), not a certified identity. If it is wrong, we will remove it: corrections.
Questions and answers
What is a summary of Robert Gavares's major discipline record?
Officer Robert Gavares of the Old Bridge Township Police Department responded to a single-vehicle crash involving a father and his two young children, one of whom had a compound leg fracture. It was later found that the father had a high blood alcohol content, and he was charged with driving while intoxicated. An internal affairs investigation found that Gavares failed to properly investigate the crash, resulting in sustained neglect of duty and performance of duty charges. No criminal charges were sustained. Gavares received a 21-day suspension and a monetary penalty.
What is Robert Gavares's major discipline record at Old Bridge Township Police Department?
Robert Gavares has one major discipline record at Old Bridge Township Police Department in the New Jersey Attorney General's 2020-2025 releases, from 2025. These are final, adjudicated actions, not allegations.
What is Robert Gavares's base salary on record?
Robert Gavares's reported base salary is $113,631, from New Jersey Treasury YourMoney data, matched to this officer at high confidence. Robert Gavares has 5 years, 8 months of reported service.
How large is Old Bridge Township Police Department, the department Robert Gavares worked for?
Old Bridge Township Police Department reported 109 sworn officers to the FBI for 2025. This is department-level context from the FBI's Law Enforcement Employees census, not a statement about Robert Gavares individually.
Sources
[1]New Jersey Major Discipline Data, 2020-2025. New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. Sheet "Major Discipline Data", row 446. Snapshot retrieved 2026-07-03. ↩
[2]YourMoney Active Pension Members (PFRS/SPRS subset). New Jersey Department of the Treasury. Row 236828, snapshot as of March 31, 2026. Derived from the public YourMoney Active Pension Members dataset, https://www.yourmoney.nj.gov/. ↩
[3]FBI Law Enforcement Employees (LEE), New Jersey subset. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Row 8396. Derived from the public Law Enforcement Employees (LEE) / Police Employee Data dataset (1960-2025), https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/. ↩