Son of Bergen County Executive Arrested

Brendan Donovan, 20, was charged with possession and being under the influence of marijuana and having paraphernalia.

Police arrested the 20-year-old son of Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan Wednesday on charges of smoking marijuana with two teenage high school girls in his mother's home.

 
Brendan Donovan was released on summonses, charged with possession and being under the influence of marijuana and having paraphernalia. He is scheduled to appear in municipal court next Tuesday. 
 
Rutherford Police Capt. Hal Ciser told The Record newspapers the girls are accused of taking Xanax before Donovan picked them up at school and taking more pills at the home. 
 
Ciser said the 16- and 17-year-old returned to school so sick, they were taken to a hospital. 
 
"This is a very difficult time for the county executive and obviously a very personal matter and the county executive appreciates people respecting her privacy," Donovan's chief of staff, Jeanne Baratta, said in a statement released Thursday.
 
Baratta told the newspaper Donovan wouldn't comment on the arrest. Rutherford High School principal John Hurley and schools Superintendent Rosemary Jones also didn't comment to the newspaper.
 
On the morning of Brendan Donovan's arrest, Kathleen Donovan mentioned him in remarks at a conference about issues affecting students, including drug abuse, according to the newspaper. She also spoke at an anti-drug organization's event in Rochelle Park later in the morning. 
 
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