By Rob Jennings | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

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In mid-2012, Hamburg Police Officer Daniel Farruggio ticketed a vehicle for illegal parking. That vehicle apparently belonged to the wife of a corrections officer and Farruggio was told to rescind the ticket, according to a whistleblower lawsuit Farruggio filed in 2014.

Farruggio refused.

He claims his refusal, and other complaints he levied about the department, lead to retaliation against him, and that the retaliation drove him from his job in 2013, just three years after being hired. On Wednesday, a jury awarded Farruggio $1.4 million.

Here's how the situation escalated, and may now cost residents in a tiny New Jersey borough big bucks.

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Sussex County Community College in Newton (Photo by Rob Jennings / NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

December 2008

Daniel Farruggio graduates from Sussex County Community College with a degree in criminal justice. While enrolled, he completes an internship with the Hamburg Police Department. That internship is instrumental in his early law enforcement career.

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Photo courtesy of Passaic County

August 2009

Farruggio completes the Passaic County Police Academy in Wayne.

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November 2010

The Hamburg Police Department, under the leadership of then-Chief Jan Wright, hires Farruggio as a full-time officer. It's a small department with just eight officers who patrol a little over 1 square mile with about 3,200 residents. It is among the smallest municipal forces in Sussex County with by far the lowest median pay.

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2010

The abuse began not long after he was hired, Farruggio claims in his lawsuit. He says he found himself at odds with then-Sgt. David McNulty.

"Sgt. McNulty would, in a playful yet demeaning authoritative manner, consistently smack plaintiff in the back of the head, call him a 'faggot' or 'homo' or even 'numb nuts,' and then challenge the plaintiff by asking 'What are you going to do about it - you want to hit me don't you," the lawsuit said.

Farruggio also says he was made to clean bathrooms and work 12-hour shifts.

McNulty, who remains in the Hamburg department but was at some point demoted to patrol officer, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Wayne Yahm in 2007 (Star-Ledger file photo)

January 2012

Chief Jan Wright retires and the Hamburg Borough Council, rather than hiring a new chief, creates the position of a civilian director — a first in Sussex County — and seeks applicants.

Two months later, the council hires Wayne Yahm as the director. Yahm, a retired Bergen County Sheriff's Office captain, also ran twice unsuccessfully for Sussex County sheriff.

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Throughout 2012

Farruggio begins to accuse Yahm of overstepping his limited authority as a civilian director.

The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Lodge 57 also has accused Yahm of overstepping legal boundaries that prohibit him from going on patrol or accessing certain files, among other restrictions.

As a result of the accusations against Yahm, a detective from the county prosecutor's office has been acting as an intermediary between Yahm and the department's top officer, Sgt. Jason Tangorra.

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Courtesy Wikicommons

June 2012

Farruggio tickets a vehicle at a Hamburg school parked in a no parking zone. He lis told later that the car belongs to a substitute teacher who is married to a corrections officer. Her brother-in-law is a cop and her father-in-law is Gilbert Snyder, a retired cop and councilman in neighboring Franklin, according to the New Jersey Herald. Farruggio says both McNulty — the department's command officer — and Yahm pressured him to rescind the ticket.

McNulty allegedly tells Farruggio that, if he didn't dismiss the ticket, Farruggio would have to pay for it. Farruggio refuses.

"When plaintiff again refused, McNulty became enraged, explaining to the plaintiff that tickets simply are not written to 'fellow law enforcement officers," according to his lawsuit.

Yahm declined comment when contacted by NJ Advance Media. A phone call to John Bowens, the attorney who defended Hamburg, was not immediately returned

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Feb. 8, 2013

Farruggio claims he is called into Yahm's office, accused of filing a falsified gun permit application, suspended — and told his choices are to quit or face a criminal charge. When he refuses, he allegedly is accused of falsifying his 2009 job application.

In his lawsuit, Farruggio maintains he disclosed his full history, including seeking mental health treatment once when he was 16 and a 2004 guilty plea to theft while working at the Sparta Athletic Club (As a part-time worker there in high school he and others stole tennis balls from a vending machine to play a game that sent the balls over a fence, according to the Herald.)

The county prosecutor's office, though, launches an investigation.

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May 28, 2013

Farruggio resigns from the Hamburg police department. His final annual salary is $52,000.

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Sussex County Courthouse where the lawsuit was heard in June and July of 2017 (NJ Advance Media file photo)

February 2014

Farruggio files his lawsuit against Hamburg. He is represented by attorney Louis Barbone.

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Former Hamburg Police Officer Daniel Farruggio testifying in Superior Court in Newton, June 28, 2017 (Photo by Daniel Freel / New Jersey Herald)

June 28, 2017

McNulty, on the witness stand, is asked about the parking ticket and states that he and Yahm "chipped in twenty each to pay the ticket for the brother of a fellow officer," the New Jersey Herald reported.

Farruggio also testifies, reportedly stating that he resigned not because he believed he acted wrongfully, but because he lacked the resources to challenge Yahm and the department.

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July 5, 2017

The jury awards him a total of $1.4 million -- $144,000 for back pay, $500,000 for emotional distress and $800,000 in punitive damages.

Superior Court Judge Frank J. DeAngelis instructed the jury that to grant him punitive damages, they had to determine that the conduct made by upper management was "willful and made with evil-mindedness," according to the Herald.

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Hamburg Mayor Paul Marino, center, with current members of the Borough Council (Photo courtesy of Hamburg Borough)

July 6, 2017

Hamburg Mayor Paul Marino says the borough will appeal.

"I think the jury got it wrong," Marino said.

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Today

Farruggio, according to his LinkedIn page, is now an analyst at Investors Bank in Iselin. There he uses his investigative skills to, "Review and investigate daily alerts of suspected activity with regards to money laundering, terrorist financing, and tax evasion."

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Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RobJenningsNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook

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