One Dead, One Injured After Workplace Dispute

"BEDMINSTER, NJ — The two groundskeepers worked together on the same rolling fairways, buzzcut greens and sandy bunkers at the upscale country club in Bedminster.

"But a work-related dispute between the two seasonal laborers turned bloody at Fiddler’s Elbow Country Club yesterday, said Somerset County Geoffrey D. Soriano.

"As related by Soriano, the episode began when Francisco Jimenez, a 59-year-old Orange resident, was waiting at the club entrance when his fellow groundskeeper arrived for work about 5 a.m., riding in the passenger’s seat of a car.

"Jimenez flagged down the vehicle, walked to the side where his coworker sat and fired a gun twice into the man’s upper body, Soriano said. The driver floored the accelerator to get away, as Jimenez fled in his own car.

"About 90 minutes later, as detectives closed in on Jimenez’s residence in Orange some 30 miles away, they were confronted with an unexpected end to their pursuit about 6:45 a.m.

"In front of Monte Irvin Park just down the street from his home, Jimenez had shot himself to death, with what detectives believe to be the same gun, according to Soriano’s office. His body lay in the gutter, said an eyewitness.

"The wounded groundskeeper—identified only as a 37-year-old Plainfield man—was taken to an unspecified hospital where he remained in critical condition yesterday, said Capt. Jack Bennett, a Somerset County Prosecutor’s spokesman."

From nj.com...