Prosecutor: NJ police sgt. had ghost gun kits, cocaine, meth in car

🔷 NJ police sgt. indicted on 22 charges
🔷 Ringkamp’s car had ghost gun kits, cocaine, meth, police say
🔷 Alleged conduct ‘egregious and disgraceful’

FREEHOLD – A Middletown police sergeant has been accused of committing crimes related to multiple forms of abusing his authority and possession of three illegal drugs, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago announced Thursday.

David Ringkamp, 43, was indicted by a Monmouth County grand jury on 22 charges, Santiago said.

Ringkamp, previously of Union Beach, has been charged with the following:

▪️ second-degree engaging in a pattern of official misconduct
▪️ 6 counts of second-degree official misconduct
▪️ 5 counts of third-degree computer criminal activity
▪️ 5 counts of third-degree narcotics offenses
▪️ 2 counts of fourth-degree hindering apprehension
▪️ 2 counts of fourth-degree tampering with physical evidence
▪️ fourth-degree obstruction of justice

Ringkamp has been off the force for over two years — he had been immediately suspended without pay pending his termination, which became final in April 2022, according to Middletown Township Police Chief Craig Weber.

Ghost gun kits stowed in car

An investigation into Ringkamp launched in December 2021, when New York State Police developed information that 33-year-old Nicholas D’Ambrosio, of Millstone, had allegedly bought several kits for “ghost guns” – untraceable makeshift firearms assembled from parts, which are illegal in New Jersey.

New York State Police contacted New Jersey State Police after officials said D’Ambrosio took the kits to his vape shop, “JR Vapors,” in Millstone, New Jersey.

According to the prosecutor's office, police then watched as Ringkamp and his now-former wife, 31-year-old Amanda Ringkamp (now Amanda Belfiore), arrived at the shop and helped D’Ambrosio stash the firearm parts in Ringkamp’s vehicle.

Shortly after, officers stopped his vehicle and Ringkamp identified himself as a Middletown police sergeant.

Read More: NJ police sergeant accused of stealing drugs from evidence

According to the prosecutor's office, investigators found that Ringkamp then agreed to help D’Ambrosio get rid of the remaining illegal firearm parts, after D’Ambrosio realized he was under police surveillance.

A search of D’Ambrosio’s shop turned up a fully assembled “ghost gun” as well as over 25 pounds of marijuana and marijuana edible products, along with evidence that he was illegally selling the cannabis there, according to the prosecutor's office.

The Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office said law enforcement searched Ringkamp’s vehicle and found the ghost gun kits, cocaine, and dozens of methamphetamine pills.

A search of his home several days later found additional illegal drugs, including more cocaine and anabolic steroids, according to the prosecutor's office.

Read More: Social network allegedly sold drugs to Rutgers students

Ringkamp and his former wife were arrested and charged with the drug offenses.

Police found that Ringkamp had allegedly deleted text messages to hinder the overall investigation.

Ringkamp was also charged with using secure law enforcement databases to carry out personal searches on D’Ambrosio and other individuals, dozens of times over a three-year span, according to the prosecutor's office.

The case against Ringkamp is now headed for an upcoming Monmouth County Superior Court hearing, yet to be scheduled.

“The conduct alleged in this criminal indictment is egregious and disgraceful, and is an unconscionable betrayal of the former officer’s sacred oath of office and sworn duty to uphold the law,” Middletown Police Chief Weber said.

Ringkamp was raised in Newtown, Pennsylvania, according to an online biography with Middletown.

He served in the U.S. Army for a decade until 2017, as an infantryman and military police officer, carrying out multiple combat deployments to Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

In 2012, he was hired by Ocean City Police Department and in 2013, transferred to Middletown Township police, during which he also worked as a firearms instructor, rifle instructor and less than lethal munitions instructor.

Santiago thanked the various law enforcement agencies involved in this “extremely complex cooperative investigation,” including the state Office of the Attorney General’s Office of Public Integrity & Accountability, the Official Corruption Bureau of the New Jersey State Police, New York State Police, and Middletown Township Police.

“We entrust police officers with power and responsibility with the expectation they will use it with integrity, serving the public and strengthening public safety,” state Attorney General Matthew Platkin said. “These allegations represent an extraordinary violation of those duties, and the honor that comes with the badge.”

“No one is above the law, and we will continue to work tirelessly to uphold the standards that the people of New Jersey rightfully expect and deserve,” State Police Superintendent Col. Patrick Callahan said in the same joint release on Thursday.

D’Ambrosio was arrested again in February and charged with manufacturing ghost gun parts on a 3D printer and additional drug offenses.

In August, he was sentenced to eight years in state prison after pleading guilty to five various charges.

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