Double Shooting Tied to Camden Parking Authority Scandal

The shootings of a former Camden Parking Authority official and the employee who had filed a whistleblower lawsuit against him are being investigated as a case of attempted murder and suicide.

The former executive director of the Camden Parking Authority, who was the focus of a criminal investigation, was found shot to death Monday. A short time later, a former parking authority employee who had been a whistleblower in the case was found critically wounded a few miles away. A neighbor said the wounded man told police that his former boss had shot him.

The body of Anthony Scarduzio, 47, of Turnersville was found inside a Monroe Township house with a gunshot wound to the head, said Gloucester County Prosecutor Andrew Yurick. Police received a call reporting the shooting just after 10 a.m., he said.

Minutes later, Washington Township police received a call reporting that someone had been shot at Aaron`s custard stand. Joseph Bowen, 50, also of Turnersville, was found nearby, Yurick said.

Bowen was in critical condition at Cooper Hospital-University Medical Center in Camden with multiple gunshot wounds to the head and chest, Yurick said.

The shootings were related, Yurick said, but said authorities were not sure how. He said he did not know if either was a suicide. Scarduzio was shot with a shotgun; Yurick said it had not been determined what type of weapon was used in Bowen`s shooting.

Yurick said officials did not yet know if anyone else was involved. He declined to say if anyone witnessed Bowen`s shooting.

A man who lives near the ice cream stand told Philadelphia television stations that Bowen, bleeding profusely, stumbled to his door Monday morning seeking help. Warren Plank said the wounded man lay down on a chaise lounge on his patio while he waited for an ambulance to arrive.

"Joe came to the house, and I called 911 for him. When an officer arrived and asked Joe who done this, he said it was Scarduzio," Plank said.

Bowen was fired from the authority in 1999. In October, along with an employee who had been suspended, he filed a lawsuit claiming he was let go because he had exposed wrongdoing.

In their lawsuit, Bowen and Thomas Del Rosario alleged corruption such as bid rigging, phony bank accounts and harassment tolerated by top officials.

The lawsuit named the authority, Scarduzio, four former and current members of the Board of Commissioners, and several employees.

The state attorney general`s office began investigating the parking authority, which oversees Camden`s parking meters and lots, after the lawsuit was filed.

The office subpoenaed hundreds of financial documents and seized lease agreements, bids, canceled checks and travel and entertainment bills dating to 1995.

Scarduzio and others had threatened Bowen in late May, said Emily Hornaday, a spokeswoman for the attorney general`s office.

"We immediately contacted Mr. Bowen and Mr. Bowen`s attorney and offered him any protection they might want," she said, including relocating Bowen or having police stay at his house.

On May 29, Bowen "declined the bulk of any protection," she said. He only asked that police drive by his house more frequently.

Scarduzio resigned as director of the parking authority in late May.

The state Division of Criminal Justice was preparing to charge him with criminal misconduct in office, Hornaday said. He was to be charged "imminently, within a week if not this week, and he knew that," she said.

Hornaday said officials had not yet determined whether to charge Scarduzio with one or more counts of misconduct. If convicted, he could have faced up to 10 years in prison and a fine of about $150,000. He also would have been barred from public service, she said.

Hornaday said the attorney general`s investigation had been focusing on Scarduzio, but would continue to include others at the authority.

Hornaday said when Scarduzio left the parking authority he did so in an early retirement buyout, but the state told the parking authority to delay payments to him because of the ongoing investigation.

A woman who answered the phone at the parking authority Monday said the agency had no comment on the shootings.

Scarduzio`s body was found at the home of Anthony and Edna D`Alessandro. Their son, Anthony, had gone to mow his parents` lawn and discovered Scarduzio`s body inside the front door, Yurick said. He then called police.

Yurick said he didn`t know if Scarduzio was a guest of the D`Alessandros. Investigators had obtained a search warrant to examine the house and were checking into whether Scarduzio forced his way inside, he said.

D`Alessandro did not work at the parking authority and was not home at the time. He was retired after owning a produce stand, a neighbor said.

(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News (AP)