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BY MERRY FIRSCHEIN – (North Jersey)

LITTLE FERRY — A borough man has been accused of trying to steal a statue erected in honor of fallen Marine Sgt. Matthew Fenton, a borough resident killed in Iraq in 2006, police said.

The suspect, Vincent J. McManus, told police he took the statue to sell for scrap metal — only to discover later that it was made of glazed concrete, police said.

The statue of a soldier was recovered yesterday in McManus’ back yard, where it was hidden under a garbage can, Lt. Frank Novak said. The only damage is a broken finger, he added.

The statue was reported missing from its base in front of Memorial School on Sunday morning, Novak said, and Police Chief Ralph Verdi made its recovery the department’s top priority.

Officer Michael Hinchcliffe worked with school officials Monday to look at tapes from the building’s security camera.

Those tapes showed a man driving up to the school on Liberty Street in a dark-colored pickup truck about 11:45 p.m. Saturday and grabbing the three-foot-tall statue, which was not attached to its pedestal, Novak said.

Fenton, who attended Memorial School, was wounded in April 2006, when a suicide bomber attacked his Humvee in Al Anbar province in Iraq. The shrapnel left the 24-year-old with severe head trauma, and he died nine days later at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., a day after receiving a Purple Heart. He never regained consciousness.

Fenton’s goal was to become a police officer in his hometown, and he posthumously was made a member of the Little Ferry Police Department.

“All of us at the Police Department took this very personally,” Novak said. “It wasn’t just a statue of a bird bath. It was a statue from a fallen hero from our town.”

Then officers looked closer at the truck on the videotape.

“They said, this looks like McManus’ pickup truck,” Novak said. “It had to be a big guy [who took the statue], because it weighs over 100 pounds.”

Police arrested McManus yesterday. He admitted in a statement that he took the statue for scrap metal, Novak said. McManus, also known as Michael Ruff, is unemployed and collects metals and junk for money, police said.

Police called the Fentons when the statue was taken, and they were “heartbroken,” Novak said.

“We called them [yesterday] to say we found it, and they were very emotional,” he said.

The statue was donated by fifth-grade teacher Michele Malki and her husband in May 2006 and is valued at more than $500, Novak said. A plaque on the base, memorializing Fenton, was unveiled on Veteran’s Day last month.

School district officials are “anxiously awaiting” the return of the statue to its pedestal, schools Superintendent Frank Scarafile said. Officials are going to think about how to secure the statue so it isn’t removed again, he said.

“You could replace it, but it is not the same,” Scarafile said. “It is not that statue. That’s part of the community now.”

McManus, 37, has been charged with theft and possession of stolen property. He was released on $25,000 bail.

McManus said he did not know the story behind the statue, Novak said.

“When he found out what he did, and how many people it affected, he was extremely remorseful and emotional,” Novak said.

Police were happy the statue was recovered, Novak said.

“What we were concerned about more than anything was damage to the statue,” Novak said. “Hopefully, when the guy finds out [it is not metal], hopefully he doesn’t just throw it in a lake and we’ll never find this thing.

“Maybe Sgt. Fenton had something to do with it.”

Marine Sgt. Matthew Fenton, May 5, 2006

Posted by The Star-Ledger

Hometown: Little Ferry

Circumstances: Died after being injured in an attack on his vehicle near Fallujah.

The Star-Ledger Archive
COPYRIGHT © The Star-Ledger 2006

Date: 2006/05/07

E-mails cease, and a mother’s fears are realized

A family gathers to mourn and praise a Marine from Little Ferry mortally wounded in Iraq
By JOE RYAN
STAR-LEDGER STAFF

Like any mother, Diane Fenton worried when her son shipped off to Iraq.

But her son, Sgt. Matthew Fenton, was a Marine. And like any Marine, he wanted to go where his country needed him.

So Matthew and Diane Fenton said their goodbyes in March, and the 24-year-old from Little Ferry promised his mother he would e-mail every day.

He made good on that promise, and for weeks, Diane Fenton had regular reminders that her son was all right.

“Until one night he didn’t e-mail,” said Allison Valentin, Fenton’s aunt and godmother.

A bomb exploded near a vehicle Fenton was riding in near Fallujah on April 26. Shrapnel tore into his head, and he eventually was moved to Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland.

He died Friday, authorities said.

“He was just proud to be serving this county,” said Drew Vagts, Fenton’s 44-year-old uncle who lives in Old Bridge.

Fenton grew up in Bergen County, where as a child he used to pretend he was a soldier.

“He always liked playing with toy guns,” said Diane Fenton, 49, who works in the accounting office of a bank. “He wanted to be a Marine because he wanted to be the best.”

Matthew Fenton grew into a muscular and outgoing young man, his family said. He had brown hair, brown eyes and a reputation for toughness.

“He was someone that you wouldn’t want to mess with,” said Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Fatovic, who is 21 and had met Fenton through his cousin.

Fenton joined the Marines shortly after graduating from high school. His mother was against the idea. But she came to accept it. Being a Marine was her son’s driving ambition.

“That’s what made him Matthew,” she said.

Fenton was stationed in Okinawa, Japan; Cherry Point, N.C.; and then Fort Devons, Mass.

On March 9, he shipped out to Iraq.

“He volunteered to go,” his mother said. “He wanted to be with the other Marines.”

Diane Fenton had trouble sleeping while her son was at war, relatives said. She lost weight, too.

When word of his injury spread, Fenton’s relatives flocked to his hospital in Maryland. Some, from his father’s side of the family, came from as far away as Ireland.

Fenton lay unconscious as relatives gathered. Diane Fenton held his hand, spoke softly into his ear and played his favorite songs on a radio. Sometimes she would climb in bed beside her son.

“I was with him the whole time,” Diane Fenton said.