NJ police says stalker woman attacked him with knife at police station

RUNNEMEDE — A police chief says that a woman's 12-year vendetta against him nearly turned deadly on Thursday morning when she came to headquarters threatening to kill him with a knife.

Chief Paul Dailey said he was the only officer at the office on Black Horse Pike when he heard a banging on the back door about 11:15 a.m.

He said he saw someone standing with their back to the door and asked the visitor how he could help them.

"She turns around and says, 'yeah, motherf**ker, I'm here to kill you.' She comes charging at me with a knife and I start stepping back and I'm saying, 'drop the knife, drop the knife,'" Dailey told New Jersey 101.5 on Friday. "I couldn't step back any further, so as she got close to me, she was waving in front of my face. I grab her in a wrist lock and disarmed her."

Dailey suspects she was under the influence of drugs at the time.

The tip of the knife and her nail caught Dailey under the cheek before he subdued the woman he identified as Bridget Morelli, 52, of Runnemede.

He said she was not wearing a mask.

"I wear my mask all the time because my wife has a compromised immune system so I'm very strict on it," Dailey said.

The chief was taken to a hospital, where the wound was cleaned and he received a tetanus shot.

Morelli's issues with Dailey go back to at least 2008, when he first arrested her as a detective on a drug charge, he said.

Dailey said she once stalked him at church.

"I feel like someone was staring at me. I turn around and it's her and I'm like, 'you gotta be kidding me," he said.

Morelli was charged with aggravated assault with a weapon on a police officer, unlawful possession of a weapon and resisting arrest. She was being held at the Camden County Jail. New Jersey 101.5 did not know Friday whether she had an attorney who could speak on her behalf.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ