Irvington police captain arrested after alleged domestic incident with Newark city councilman

NEWARK (WABC) -- Newark police are conducting an investigation into the circumstances that led to the alleged assault of a city councilman and the arrest of an Irvington police captain who was charged with several domestic violence-related charges.

Authorities say that just before 11 p.m. Monday, Newark Councilman John James was at the intersection of Elizabeth and Pomona avenues, near his residence, when he was confronted by the suspect, 43-year-old Irvington Police Captain Monique Smith. Police say she approached James, yelling, before he got into his vehicle and drove off.

Law enforcement sources confirm that the suspect had just been promoted to captain at a ceremony earlier in the day and was at a celebration party for the promotion at a club in Irvington before the incident happened.

According to police, Smith got into her vehicle and followed James before striking James' car with hers several times before James responded to his parents' home on Wilbur Street, where his father, ex-Mayor Sharpe James, intervened on his son's behalf.

Police say the suspect ultimately left the area and was not at the scene when a Newark police unit arrived to assist.

The suspect was eventually located and arrested. She has been charged with stalking, criminal mischief, harassment, possession of a weapon, possession of that weapon for an unlawful purpose and aggravated assault.

Although an arrest has been made in this case, Smith may face additional charges pending the outcome of the investigation, which is being conducted jointly by the Newark Police Department and the Irvington Police Department. She has been suspended without pay.

The 46-year-old James is a military veteran who served on active duty during Operation Desert Storm in the 1990s and in Afghanistan in 2007-08. He was elected to the Newark City Council in November 2013.

His father served as mayor from 1986 to 2006 but was convicted of fraud and conspiracy in 2008 and sentenced to 27 months in federal prison for steering city-owned land to a one-time mistress.