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Port Authority PD: Turnstile Jumper Bites Officer

NEWARK, N.J. -- A turnstile jumper fought with officers before biting one of them on the hand, Port Authority police said.

Matthew A. Jones

Matthew A. Jones

Photo Credit: MUGSHOT: Courtesy PAPD

Matthew A. Jones, 32, of Newark, "positioned himself in a fighting stance" when officers approached him at the Newark Penn Station PATH station for passing through a handicap turnstile without paying, the authority's Joseph Pentangelo said.

The 6-foot-2-inch, 200-pound suspect -- who already was on a receiving stolen property charge -- flailed his arms to fend off the officers, then fled a short distance before they grabbed him again, he said.

"One officer deployed a chemical agent as [Jones] continued to resist and fled down the stairs to the main fare zone," Pentangelo said.

There, an NJ Transit police officer assisted his PAPD colleagues in taking Jones into custody, he said.

The officer bitten on the left hand was treated at University Medical Center before being released, Pentangelo said.

Jones, meanwhile, was taken to the Essex County Correction Center. He's charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest, theft of services, bail jumping and disorderly conduct.

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