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Officer Angel Batista was on patrol when he spotted a vehicle stopped in the eastbound lane of Kingsland Avenue shortly before 2 a.m.
Standing in the roadway on the passenger side was 27-year-old John Parise, who began yelling obscenities at him, Detective Sgt. Vincent Auteri said.
The driver of the stopped car then suddenly accelerated, making a U-turn, Auteri said.
Batista got out of his cruiser and directed the driver to pull to the side of the road, after which Parise “approached him in belligerent fashion,” the sergeant said.
Seeing he was extremely drunk, the officer called for assistance and convinced Parise to head to his home nearby, Auteri said.
Parise returned as Lt. Anthony Ricigliano and Officer Matt Dudek arrived and charged at Batista, who was interviewing the driver, he said.
Jumping to his colleague’s aid, Ricigliano was punched and kicked by Parise, Auteri said.
Both fell to the ground, with Ricigliano hitting his head on the front side of one of the patrol vehicles, he said.
Parise – who has a criminal history that includes an assault -- continued to resist even after being subdued, spitting on the officers and threatening to harm Dudek after his release.
Police charged Parise with aggravated assault on a police officer, resisting arrest, obstruction, criminal mischief, projecting bodily fluids at an officer and making terroristic threats.
He remained held Wednesday in the Bergen County Jail pending a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack.
Ricigliano was treated at a local hospital for a severe cut on his head, Auteri said.
The driver, identified as Jennifer Ochoa, 33, of Kearny, was released at the scene on a traffic summons.
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