New Jersey superintendent defecated on high school football field 'on a daily basis,' cops say

Thomas Tramaglini, 42, was arrested and charged with lewdness, littering and defecating in public, police said. (Google Maps/Holmdel Township Police Department)

A New Jersey schools superintendent was arrested Monday when officials discovered he had been defecating on a high school football field “on a daily basis,” police said.

Thomas Tramaglini, 42, was charged with lewdness, littering and defecating in public, police said Thursday. The Kenilworth schools superintendent was arrested after surveillance video caught him in the act on Holmdel High School’s football field.

Authorities began hunting for the "mystery pooper" after Holmdel High School staff and coaches for football and track reported finding human feces on or near the field nearly every day.

Tramaglini was arrested while running on the athletic fields’ track just before 6 a.m. Monday, NJ.com reported. Turns out, the alleged "pooper-intendent" lived in Aberdeen, about three miles away from the high school.

Tramaglini took a paid leave of absence after his arrest.

"We learned of municipal court charges facing our current superintendent of schools in Holmdel, NJ. Given the nature of those charges, he asked for and was granted a paid leave of absence," according to a Wednesday message posted on the Facebook page for Kenilworth Public Schools. The district said unpaid leave would only occur "in the face of indictments or tenure charges."

The superintendent makes $147,504 a year. He was named superintendent of Kenilworth schools after his predecessor Scott Taylor resigned in August 2015. Tramaglini also has a part-time job as a lecturer at Rutgers Graduate School of Education, NJ.com reported. His employment status post-arrest at the graduate school wasn't immediately clear.