At 12:18 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 16, police responded to an apartment on Broadway after a 911 caller reported hearing a lot of screaming from the apartment, the Attorney General's office said.
Responding officers approached the apartment described by the caller and heard yelling coming from inside, authorities said. Officers encountered the man who had been yelling, later identified as Juan Poche, and requested medical assistance, authorities said.
Bayonne Police Sgt. Matthew Tarbett and Police Officers Christian Cella, Marcin Chojnowski, and Ernesto Naveed restrained Poche for his own safety and for medical personnel to transport him to Bayonne Medical Center, where he was later pronounced deceased at 8:44 a.m., authorities said. The cause and manner of death are under investigation, authorities said.
State law requires the Attorney General’s Office to conduct investigations of a person’s death that occurs during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody. It requires that all such investigations be presented to a grand jury to determine if the evidence supports the return of an indictment against the officer or officers involved.
The investigation is ongoing.
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