A paintball hit a teacher. Then police linked 5 NJ towns

🚨Investigators linked five North Jersey towns to a series of paintball shootings

🚨A Fair Lawn teacher was hit in the head by paintball while leaving her school

🚨The former sergeant also faces a separate case involving an internal affairs investigation

A former Bergen County police sergeant is charged in a series of paintball shootings across five North Jersey towns, including one in which a teacher was hit in the head.

An investigation into a paintball fired at an SUV driven by a teacher leaving Lyncrest Elementary School in Fair Lawn on Sept. 22 led investigators to compare notes about similar shootings in Garfield, Hasbrouck Heights, Lodi and Wallington.

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Garfield Police Sgt Anthony Pizzi is accused of witness tampering (Credit: Garfield Police Department via Instagram)

Investigators linked five towns to the paintball shootings

The shootings took place between Sept. 18 and 24, according to Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella, who combined the investigations into one. Detectives reviewed surveillance video, police reports and victim statements before bringing charges against Anthony M. Pizzi, 31.

Pizzi was charged with aggravated assault, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, unlawful possession of a weapon and criminal mischief.

The sergeant already faced a separate case

It's not Pizzi's first brush with the law this year. He was charged in June with sending a text to another officer on April 16, while serving as a supervisor, and asking him to lie during an internal affairs interview.

Pizzi was first hired in January 2019 and attended the Bergen County Police Academy.

He had the highest New Jersey Civil Service Sergeant Test score in the department and one of the highest in the state. He was promoted to sergeant in 2024.

Previous reporting by Erin Vogt was used in this report

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