N.J. mayor convicted of resisting arrest

BRADLEY BEACH, N.J., June 22 (UPI) -- The mayor of New Jersey's second-largest city was convicted Friday of resisting arrest and obstruction of justice for an altercation in a Jersey Shore resort.

A municipal judge in Bradley Beach ordered Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy to pay $736 in fines and court costs, The Asbury Park Press reported. Healy said he is likely to appeal.

Healy, the final witness at a trial that was spread out over two days, said he was trying to help a young couple who had gotten into an argument in the parking lot of Barry's Tavern, owned by the mayor's sister. He said police knocked him down and gave him a blast of pepper spray.

Police officers, who testified Monday, said Healy was drunk and refused to respond to an order to leave.