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What also remained unclear was why Julius Filep was walking toward oncoming traffic in the highway’s northbound lanes in East Brunswick shortly after 3:30 a.m. Aug. 1.
An East Brunswick police officer was responding to another accident when his cruiser struck Filep in front of the AAA Insurance center, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck said.
Filep was pronounced dead at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital at 4:13 a.m., the attorney general said.
The video shows Filep apparently getting out of a stopped vehicle and walking up the darkened highway before he's struck.
CLICK HERE for the recordings.
State law and his own guidelines require Bruck's office to investigate 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," he said.
The guidelines guarantee that the investigation is done “in a full, impartial and transparent manner."
Once the investigation is complete, the results will be presented to a grand jury -- ordinarily consisting of 16 to 23 citizens -- that will determine whether or not criminal charges are in order.
As part of that process, Bruck’s office released the single video and a group of audio recordings after sharing them with Filep’s family and their attorney on Thursday, the attorney general said.
The investigation was continuing, Bruck said.
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