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Current Officers Matthew Przemieniecki, 43, of Hamilton and Justin Ubry, 33, of Burlington and retired Lt. Michael Delahanty, 51, of Robbinsville all used "unreasonable and excessive" force in the Jan. 5, 2018 incident, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said.
Officers who pursued the 16-year-old boy after he stole a car and then crashed a car grabbed him in a resident's backyard shed, then got him to the ground and in cuffs, body camera footage shows.
The teen then had his head stomped and snow kicked in his face, among other treatment, while on his stomach, the U.S. attorney said.
According to Honig:
"At approximately 8:15 a.m., on Jan. 5, 2018, more than a dozen police officers responded to a report of a stolen vehicle in Ewing Township. Officers located the vehicle, which had crashed, and saw the driver of the vehicle running from the scene.
"Shortly thereafter, officers located the driver, a minor, in a detached shed on a residential property, removed the minor from the shed, and laid him face down on the snow-covered ground.
"While other officers handcuffed the victim, Delahanty used his boot to step on the back of the victim’s head, pressing his face into the snow.
"Przemieniecki kicked snow three times directly into the victim’s face, and Ubry also kicked snow directly into the victim’s face. Przemieniecki then used his boot to step on the victim’s head, again driving his face into the snow.
"The victim did not resist law enforcement at any time while on the ground."
Honig didn't refer to the race of the victim, who is Black, or the white officers.
Rather, she said the force applied was "unreasonable and excessive" and "violated the victim’s constitutional right to be free from such force."
The U.S. attorney credited special agents of the FBI Trenton Resident Agency with the investigation leading to the charges of deprivation of rights under color of law against the three defendants.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Martha K. Nye of Honig's Criminal Division in Trenton and Senior Civil Rights Counsel R. Joseph Gribko of her Criminal Division in Newark are handling the case.
MORE ON THE CASE CAN BE FOUND HERE: Video shows Ewing cops stomp Black teen's head during 2018 arrest (Trentonian)
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