By Eric Conklin
nj.com
LOWER TOWNSHIP, N.J. — A New York City man who nearly 30 years ago admitted to fatally shooting a South Jersey police officer investigating a burglary-arson near the Jersey Shore is set to be freed after serving the minimum time in prison.
Before killing Lower Township police officer David C. Douglass in February 1994, Chung Ho cooked for a Chinese restaurant not far from a house prosecutors say he burglarized and ignited on fire.
Ho, who carries the alias “Chung Hop” and turns 80 Thursday, was sentenced to 30 years to life for killing the veteran police officer. He will be freed from East Jersey State Prison near Staten Island on Sept. 23, winning his first eligible request for parole.
He was sentenced in 1995 after pleading guilty to murder, aggravated arson, and burglary charges.
His request was approved on June 26, New Jersey Parole Board spokesperson Nicole Swiderski told NJ Advance Media Monday. After being released, Ho is mandated by law to communicate regularly with his designated parole representative.
He must also abide by a curfew and refrain from communicating with Douglass’ family, Swiderski said. The board’s ruling is unappealable by a prosecutor, she said.
Douglass’s son, David Douglass Jr., who has teamed with No Luck Productions to produce a documentary about his father’s killing, told NJ Advance Media the release is an injustice.
The fallen officer’s son said family twice traveled to Trenton to have parole officials hear their pleas against the earliest-possible release. Their voices, he said, weren’t weighed as strongly in the decision.
Ho will be free four months ahead of the 30-year mark when he killed Douglass, shooting him in the face while running from police.
“It was disappointing that a board of 10 to 12 members voted to release a man that was so quick to pull the trigger knowing it was an officer,” Douglass said, in a written message.
Lower Township police yearly commemorate the fallen patrolman each year, sharing his picture online and recapping the story about the night he died.
Lower Township officials did not immediately return a request by NJ Advance Media for comment.
Ho was 49 at the time he was arrested for the killing. He was staying at the burglarized residence Douglass was investigating, having briefly cooked at a township Chinese restaurant in January.
Prowling from police after the burglary, Ho confessed to shooting Douglas, 34, who spent 13 years of his career with the Cape May County Sheriff’s Office, while trying to hide. The officer was one of two police units investigating a suspicious person trying to hide a duffel bag in nearby bushes.
Witnesses heard two gunshots. Douglass fired one round from his gun. He was pronounced dead on arrival at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City.
Douglass left behind several family members, including a wife and three children. News reports shared by Lower Township police said he only the third law enforcement officer in all of pastoral Cape May County to die in the line of duty in recent history at that time.
At the time he was sentenced, Ho said he was frightened by Douglass.
Police said Ho set fire after the burglary. During his sentence, Ho admitted to dashing into the bushes after fleeing the house. Moments later, Ho saw Douglass approach and shot him.
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