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Four other officers firing Tasers couldn't disarm an agitated Atiba Lewis, 45, as he advanced on them at the Crest at Princeton Meadows Apartment Complex off Plainsboro Road on Feb. 16, 2022, video from the scene shows.
The standoff ended when Lewis rushed Detective Phillip Nguyen.
Despite the circumstances, state law required a grand jury review of the incident.
The presentation by prosecutors included eight videos, the most chilling of which was bodycam footage recorded by the detective himself.
After reviewing the videos, among other evidence, grand jurors on Monday, Aug. 21, returned a “no bill” – meaning that no charges should be filed against law enforcement.
It all began with Middlesex County sheriff's officers going to the complex to serve Lewis with an eviction notice, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said.
They returned a short time later to "execute a search warrant for an unlawful firearm at Mr. Lewis’ residence,” Platkin said.
Lewis wasn't home at the time, he said.
Officers armed with the court-ordered warrant found four firearms in Lewis’s residence, then waited for him to return, the attorney general said.
Lewis showed up around 11:30 a.m.
A police dashcam shows him slowly pacing in the middle of the street as officers and detectives begin arriving.
Lewis pulls a knife and advances on the first one who approaches, forcing him to backpedal.
Other officers come running. Several point Tasers at him.
"Drop the knife. Drop the knife," one says.
"I will tase you," warns another.
A dozen or so law enforcers surround Lewis at one point. Some point Tasers. The others wield guns.
A few shout "Crossfire! Crossfire!" and begin to reposition themselves.
The agitated Lewis runs at them, one by one, before heading back down the block.
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WATCH THE VIDEOS HERE: Plainboro -- Lewis Recordings
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"I'm not going to jail, man," says Lewis, holding a knife in one hand and a water bottle in the other.
"Listen, man, just take it easy," says Nguyen, the detective. "Drop the knife and we're good."
"You don't have to do this," another officer says.
"Kill me, man," Lewis replies as his pursuers retreat.
"Yo, you're good, man -- if you drop the knife we'll take care of it," Nguyen tells him.
At least two officers discharge Tasers, but they have no effect.
"Shoot me, man, shoot me," Lewis repeats. "That'll shut me up."
Then comes the fatal moment.
Knife in hand, Lewis pivots toward Nguyen.
"I know y'all can't shoot me," he says.
Then he runs straight at the detective.
"Don't do it," Nguyen shouts before firing three shots.
Lewis collapses onto a police SUV, dropping the knife and water bottle. He ends up on the ground as police, and then EMS personnel, administer first aid.
Lewis was pronounced dead at Princeton Hospital at 12:10 p.m., roughly 40 minutes after the confrontation began, Platkin said.
No one else was injured, the attorney general said.
State law and his office's own guidelines require Platkin to investigate any and all 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 goal is to "promote the fair, impartial, and transparent investigation of fatal police encounters," he has said.
Once the investigation by his Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) was completed, the results were presented to the grand jury “in a neutral, objective manner, and with appropriate transparency,” the attorney general said.
This included all the footage from police body cameras and Tasers – which were first shared with Lewis’s family – along with autopsy results and interviews with the officers and civilian witnesses.
“An officer may use deadly force in New Jersey when the officer reasonably believes it is immediately necessary to protect the officer or another person from imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm,” Platkin said.
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