Ex-Long Branch, NJ police officer admits making drugs in meth lab

FREEHOLD – A former Long Branch police officer has admitted to making drugs in a home meth lab and to endangering his family and neighboring community in doing so.

Christopher Walls, 50, pleaded guilty on Tuesday in Monmouth County Superior to charges of second-degree causing a risk of widespread injury and third-degree manufacturing CDS (methamphetamine), Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey announced.

Walls, a township resident and 19-year veteran of the police force, was arrested in May.

Law enforcement had responded to the home on the 300 block of West End Avenue and found the illegal drug operation, in both the basement and a shed on the property.

Members of the State Police Hazmat Unit also found multiple guns, high-capacity magazines and a large amount of ammunition in an open, unlocked safe in the same home as a child.

Under a plea deal, Walls faced a combined sentence of ten years in state prison, with a two-year-period of parole ineligibility.

Walls also would be permanently banned from public office and must give up his gun and firearms ID card.

He is slated for sentencing on Jan. 14, 2022.