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A state grand jury in Trenton charged Atlantic County Correctional Sgt. Eric Tornblom and Correctional Officer Mark Jenigen with manslaughter in the September 2019 death of Mario Terruso, 41, of Mays Landing, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said.
The grand jury also returned charges against five Hamilton Township police officers for "dropping off [Terruso] at the jail instead of transporting him to a hospital for treatment of medical and behavioral symptoms observed during his arrest," Platkin added.
Terruso, a journeyman painter who grew up in Hamilton Township, was "in desperate need of medical help. He pleaded for that assistance," the attorney general said.
Instead, the officers dumped him at the Atlantic County Justice Facility, where he "experienced a medical episode as correctional officers were trying to restrain him," Platkin said.
Terruso later died at a hospital.
“In New Jersey, our police officers show compassion and provide help to people dealing with problems and distress on a daily basis, dutifully and often quietly doing the work that makes theirs such a noble profession," Platkin said. "But for Mr. Terruso, those sworn to protect him are the very people alleged to have abused him in his time of need."
In addition to the charges against Tornblom and Jenigen, the grand jury charged both of them and Correctional Lt. Jesse Swartzentruver with official misconduct.
Tornblom was also charged with aggravated assault.
Also charged with official misconduct are Hamilton Police Sgts. Michael Schnurr and Nicole Nelson, along with Hamilton Police Officers Servando Pahang, Cory Silvio, and William Howze.
The officers were responding to a trespassing call when they arrested Terruso, of Mays Landing, shortly after 1 p.m. Sept. 15, 2019.
A homeowner had told 911 dispatchers that a man -- later ID'd as Terruso -- entered his home, picked up a knife and began behaving "erratically," Platkin said.
Picking up a knife, Terruso claimed people had been shooting at him, "which was untrue," the attorney general said.
The homeowner declined to press charges, he said, but officers seized Terruso because of an outstanding warrant for failing to pay child support.
Handcuffed in the back of a patrol car, Terruso began "exhibiting signs of narcotic use, paranoia and hallucinations, for which he needed a medical and mental health evaluation," Platkin said.
Terruso himself said he'd been throwing up and asked to go to the hospital, he said.
The Hamilton Police Department requires officers to either take a sick or injured suspect requiring medical attention to a hospital or call an ambulance, Platkin noted.
It was a Sunday afternoon, which meant the officers would "have to sit and wait at a hospital while medical staff completed an evaluation," the attorney general said.
So they and their supervisors agreed to bring Terruso to the county lockup instead, Platkin said.
Once they got there, he said, the officers "hid any information from the jail staff about Mr. Terruso’s physical and mental state, including the arrestee’s request to go to the hospital because he had been vomiting."
Terruso "showed signs of medical distress and, as the day progressed, his condition deteriorated, with officers and medical staff noticing that Mr. Terruso was making gagging and hacking sounds and spitting up a black substance," Platkin said.
"A drug test revealed he was positive for methamphetamine and Ecstasy," the attorney general added.
Surveillance footage released in 2021 shows Terruso groaning repeatedly for nearly two minutes before aid is rendered by officers and EMS personnel.
He then becomes agitated as officers struggle to restrain him.
Restrained in handcuffs and leg irons, Terruso was "forcibly taken to the ground, struck by Sgt. Tornblom in the head four times and restrained face down while officers attempted to place him in a soft restraint wrap," Platkin said.
Still groaning and sweating profusely, Terruso becomes unresponsive.
An ambulance arrived at 7:25 p.m. and brought Terruso to the Mainland Campus of AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center at approximately 7:50 p.m., authorities said.
He was pronounced dead at 2:19 a.m. on Sept. 16, 2019.
SEE: NJ Attorney General Releases Video Of Incident Involving Deceased Atlantic County Jail Inmate
State law and his own guidelines require Platkin to review deaths that occur “during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody," no matter what the circumstances are, the attorney general has said.
The guidelines guarantee that the investigation is done “in a full, impartial and transparent manner," removing politics or personal agendas, he said.
Once Platkin’s Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) completed their investigation, the results were presented to the grand jury “in a neutral, objective manner, and with appropriate transparency,” the attorney general said.
The evidence included:
- witness interviews;
- forensic results;
- video footage;
- the autopsy report.
Grand jurors on Monday concluded deliberations with a "true bill" that finds criminal charges against the officers warranted, Platkin said.
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