Village Employee Claims Homeowner Hurled Racist Remark

An Alanon Road man is facing a harassment charge in connection to an alleged racially-charged confrontation with a village sanitation worker on Dec. 26.

Ridgewood police said the Sanitation Department worker – who was not identified – claimed that at roughly 10 a.m. on Dec. 26 the homeowner on Alanon Road called him a "f------g n----r" while he was picking up refuse in the neighborhood. Others reportedly overheard the derogatory term.

The employee, who is black, subsequently filed a citizens' complaint with the police department. Judge Russell Teschon, the Glen Rock Municipal Court Judge, found enough probable cause at a hearing to have charges filed against the homeowner, identified as Eugene Koret. (The hearing was heard in Glen Rock to avoid potential conflicts of interest.)

Neither police nor Koret clarified the events leading up to the alleged confrontation.

"The individual's conduct to our employee, as I understand it, is reprehensible," Village Engineer Chris Rutishauser said. "He was very insulting to the village staff member... It's totally unacceptable. The employee showed great restraint in not retaliating."

Koret, 68, declined to comment on the alleged incident at his home on Friday. Village Manager Ken Gabbert did not respond to a request for comment.

Koret recently filed a counter claim against the employee, Ridgewood Municipal Court Administrator Maria Doerr told Patch Friday. His claim has not yet been heard.

No trial date in Glen Rock has yet been selected, Doerr said.