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Saturday, feb 8
Tag:
Use of Force
Police & Fire
NO
Choice
: Police Justified Shooting Knife-Wielding NJ Man, Grand Jury Finds
UPDATE: Police were justified in shooting a New Jersey man seen on bodycam video charging at an officer with a knife, a grand jury investigation required by state law found. Luke Mendez, 26, had his wrapped around the knife handle as he barreled down the steps of an Old Bridge home last April 24. Mendez was only two steps from the landing -- less than three feet from an Old Bridge officer -- when he left police no choice. Mendez was pronounced dead at a local hospital about 90 minutes later. Grand jurors reviewed various evidence but didn't really need any more than the bodycam video…
Police & Fire
Update
: Paterson Police Officer Indicted For Shooting Unarmed Man In Back As He Ran
"Drop the gun!" a Paterson police officer shouts several times as he chases a fleeing man down a city street. Suddenly, two shots ring out and Khalif Cooper falls face down in the street. Officer Jerry Moravek, who fired the shots, handcuffs Cooper, 28, who is heard on a bodycam video telling him, "I don't got no gun." A grand jury agreed. Moravek was indicted in Trenton on criminal charges this week for shooting the unarmed Cooper, who was left paralyzed, in June 2022, state Attorney General Matthew Platkin announced on Thursday, Dec. 7. “Deadly force against a fleeing suspect must be u…
Police & Fire
'Improper, Unlawful': Trooper Punched Handcuffed Drunk Woman In Face, NJ Attorney General Says
A New Jersey State Police trooper was charged with punching a handcuffed woman in the face as she sat in the back of a cruiser awaiting a medical evaluation. Nicolas J. Hogan, 28, of Gibbstown, was among a group of troopers who responded to a report of a trespasser at a home in Cumberland County’s Upper Deerfield Township around 1:30 a.m. Sept. 7, 2022. Two troopers found the victim walking in the middle of the road drunk. She needed a medical evaluation, so the troopers kept her detained -- but not under arrest -- and called for a medical unit, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platk…
Police & Fire
South Jersey Man Killed Himself, Officer Who Fired Weapon Only Grazed Him, Grand Jury Finds
UPDATE: A Cherry Hill police officer who fired his service weapon at a man who’d just shot himself in a private home last year did nothing wrong, a state grand jury has found. The single shot fired by Officer Jared Fox only grazed Joseph S. Bestic Jr., 63, on Oct. 11, 2022, according to New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin. Officers had been called to conduct a welfare check at the home on Chapel Avenue West, the attorney general said. Bestic allowed them in and soon after grabbed a gun and shot himself, Platkin said. He was later pronounced dead at the scene. Platkin’s Office …
Police & Fire
Jersey City Man Shot By Police Charged At Them Wielding Large Knife, Videos Show
UPDATE: Less than a month after Jersey City police shot and killed a disturbed resident, state authorities publicly released videos that show him charging at tactical officers with a knife. Family members, friends and others have spent the time since the Aug. 27 incident calling city police murderers, accusing authorities of withholding information and demanding what they say is accountability for Andrew Washington’s death. During a protest outside City Hall on Wednesday, Sept.,20, they claimed that they were deliberately being kept in the dark. What some may not have known is that an inve…
Police & Fire
Detective Found Justified In Shooting NJ Man Now Paralyzed For Life
A Mercer County Grand Jury found that police use of force was justified in the February 2022 shooting of a 29-year-old Trenton man that left him paralyzed, authorities announced. Jajuan Henderson had been accused of ramming a police car and other vehicles in an alleged attempt to flee from police on Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022, before Trenton Det. Michael Gettler opened fire, according to a release from the Union County Prosecutor's Office. The UCPO handled the investigation due to a conflict between Trenton police and the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office. The incident unfolded on Centre Str…
News
'No Safety Without Trust': AG Takes Over Paterson PD, Pledges Changes In Mental Crisis Policing
“There is no safety without trust,” New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in announcing a state takeover of the day-to-day operations of the Paterson Police Department and plans to include mental health professionals in responses to barricaded individuals there and statewide. Experience has shown that both moves are absolutely necessary at the moment, the state’s top law enforcement officer said. “There is a crisis of confidence in law enforcement in this city,” Platkin said, speaking outside the Frank X. Graves Jr. Public Safety Complex on Broadway on March 27. “Under these ci…
News
Update
: Paterson Officer Charged By State Authorities For Shooting Fleeing Man In Back
"Drop the gun!" a Paterson police officer shouted several times as he chased a fleeing man down a city street before dawn this past June. Suddenly, two shots rang out and unarmed 28-year-old Khalif Cooper fell face down in the street. Officer Jerry Moravek, who fired the shots, handcuffed Cooper, who is heard on police bodycam video telling him, "I don't got no gun." He didn't have one, said New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin in announcing on Monday, Feb. 6 that his office had charged Moravek with aggravated assault and official misconduct. Moravek, 40, violated the state's …
Police & Fire
Police Use Of Force Justified In Knife Attack, Ocean County Prosecutor Says
An investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office has cleared Berkeley Township police of any wrongdoing in a "use of force" incident. The Attorney General’s Office concurred with Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer’s conclusion to forego presentation of this matter to the Grand Jury. The incident occurred on Aug. 1, 2021 at 10:39 a.m. Berkeley Township patrol officers responded to a call at a residence on Stanford Drive following a 9-1-1 call. Dispatch warned responding officers that the subject, Stephen M. Carroccia, hereafter, “Carroccia”, had “pulled a knife o…
Police & Fire
Disturbing Footage Shows Officer Shooting Barking Dog Whose NJ Owner Says Is 'Not Dangerous'
A Monmouth County couple is facing charges after their dog allegedly acted aggressively toward a resident and prompted an officer to shoot the dog, authorities said (scroll for video). Alexyss Ferrara, 29, and Angel Velez Jr, 34, both of Keyport, have been charged with possessing a dangerous dog and multiple violations of local ordinances in regards to an incident Saturday, Oct. 22 involving their dog Blaze, according to Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago. Video footage shows the dog, identified in social media posts as "Blaze," barking and running toward police. An offi…
News
Njsp
Sergeant Justified In Shooting NY State Man During Furious GS Parkway Struggle Over Gun
A New Jersey State Police sergeant was justified in fatally shooting a New York State man who jumped him and tried taking his gun during a furious struggle on the shoulder of the Garden State Parkway, a grand jury has found. NJSP Staff Sgt. Randall Wetzel ended what had been a series of interactions between Maurice Gordon, 28, of Poughkeepsie, NY and law enforcers in Brick Township, Waretown, Stafford and, ultimately, Bass River in Burlington County, in an encounter two years ago that was captured on video. New Jersey law required a grand jury review of the incident despite the circumstance…
News
Chief: Elmwood Park Officers Subdue Knife-Wielding Suspect Who Stabs Himself, Refuses To Relent
An incident that could have easily gone sideways ended successfully Monday when a pair of Elmwood Park police officers subdued a suspect who stabbed himself and then refused to relinquish the knife. Nasir Clark, 21, of Paterson had violated a court order by going to his ex-girlfriend's home off River Drive, Police Chief Michael Foligno said, noting that his department has "dealing with this with him the past couple of weeks now." Clark was charged earlier this year with punching and pistol-whipping the victim. SEE: Fugitive Wanted For Punching, Pistol-Whipping Woman Surrenders To Elmw…
News
NJ Attorney General Releases Footage Of Fatal Police Encounter With Agitated Paterson Man
VIDEO: A bloodied, agitated suspect writhes uncontrollably, falls down and then goes limp while being handcuffed by Paterson police, body camera footage released Wednesday shows. “I lost his pulse,” a city EMT firefighter tells the officers after they lift a lifeless Jose Gonzalez onto a gurney. “CPR?” one asks. They then remove the cuffs, turn him onto his back and begin chest compressions as the footage ends. Gonzalez, 41, of Paterson, was pronounced dead at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center less than an hour later, authorities said. Acting New Jersey Attorney General Andrew J. Bru…
Police & Fire
Use Of Force By Jersey City Police Breaking Up Massive Street Fight Deemed Justified
The use of force by Jersey City police officers breaking up a massive street fight in May has been deemed justified, authorities in Hudson County announced Wednesday. Multiple 9-1-1 callers reported 20 to 100 people screaming, punching and kicking in a street fight that broke out on Bostwick Avenue between Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive and Ocean Avenue just after 5:15 p.m. on May 5, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said. This incident that quickly went viral on social media occurred during the Executive Order signed by Gov. Phil Murphy that required people to stay home and socia…
Police & Fire
Video
: 'Stop! Stop!' NJ Officers Shout Before Shooting Man Who Rushed Them With Broken Bottle
"We don't wanna do this, man. Stop! Stop!" an officer shouts over and over again before police in Atlantic County shoot a Pennsylvania man who charged at them with a broken bottle, dramatic video released Friday shows. Officers alternately implore and command Amir Johnson, 30, to drop the bottle the Aug. 6 late-afternoon standoff in the middle of a Ventnor highway. “Put it down, bro, we don’t wanna do this,” an officer shouts. "Drop the bottle! Drop it! Stop! Stop!" the officers repeatedly shout at Johnson, of Wilkes Barre, to stop, but he doesn't, the video shows. He's only feet away whe…
Police & Fire
Watch
: Officer Promises To Let Asbury Park Man Cut His Hair Moments Before Fatal Shooting
** WARNING: Recordings contain profanities and sensitive content ** UPDATE: An Asbury Park police sergeant shot and killed a barricaded man who threatened an officer with a knife moments after another promised he'd get a haircut if he surrendered, recordings released Tuesday show. A police bodycam shows officers negotiating at the door with Hasani Best, 39, who was armed with a knife when he barricaded himself inside a 4th Avenue apartment after a domestic dispute around 9 p.m. Aug. 21, State Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. "You get a haircut, I'll come out," Best says (5:36 …
News
NJ SWAT Team Justified Killing Former UPS Employee Who Took Hostages, Shot At Ex-GF
A SWAT team was justified in shooting and killing a former UPS employee as he chased at an ex-girlfriend at his old job, firing a handgun at her, after taking her and another woman hostage, New Jersey's attorney general said Wednesday. The beaten, bleeding woman had broken away from William J. Owens, 39, of Sicklerville (Camden County) during what had been a 3½-hour standoff with police. Owens chased her, firing shots from a 9mm handgun, as the woman ran out an employee door into the parking lot of the UPS Mail Innovations facility on Birch Creek Road in Logan Township on Jan. 14, 2019, sta…
Police & Fire
Postponed
: Ocean Prosecutor's Virtual Town Hall On Community Policing Is Next Wednesday
Good news. If you forgot about Wednesday night's Virtual Town Hall hosted by Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer, there is a new chance to view it live, next week. The live-streamed broadcast was postponed until 6 p.m. next Wednesday, July 29. Billhimer.is expected to be joined by area police chiefs, pastors and state and county law enforcement officials, Billhimer said, noting that the original July 22 session was postponed "due to circumstances beyond our control." Advance questions for the public officials listed below can still be submitted to www.ocponj.go…
Police & Fire
AG: Driver In High-Speed Pursuit Shot Dead In Wayne After Pointing Gun Directly At Police
A driver in a high-speed pursuit stopped his car on a highway in Wayne and began to get out with a gun pointed directly at police when he was shot and killed, state authorities said video shows. Bradley G. Pullman, 48, of Queens made an illegal U-turn over the Route 46 median in Mountain Lanes around 4:30 p.m. April 26, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said Tuesday. An officer activated his lights and sirens and tried to stop the Lexus, but Pullman -- who records show had arrests for robbery in New York City and drunk driving in Ulster, NY -- kept going east on the highway, Grewal sa…
Police & Fire
'Right Thing': Grewal Launches Police Crisis Intervention Training In Paterson, Trenton, AC
New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said Tuesday that he’s committed to establishing statewide crisis intervention training for law enforcement officers at all levels, among several enhancements aimed at “strengthening trust between police officers and the communities they serve.” “Experts agree that one of the most effective ways to reduce police use-of-force and death-in-custody incidents is by expanding the use of Crisis Intervention Teams (CITs), which help officers respond to situations involving individuals with mental health issues,” Grewal said. However, CIT training “is e…
Police & Fire
Authorities: Police Shooting Of Knife-Wielding Jersey Shore Kidnapper Justified
Police were justified in shooting an Ocean County ex-con who cornered them with a knife after stabbing a K-9, authorities announced Wednesday. “Drop the knife!” the officers yelled repeatedly as Edward Walsh advanced at least 20 feet toward them, refusing to stop, during a November 2018 encounter in a Mantoloking home, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said. “Officers found a large knife with a brown handle next to Walsh and a second knife in his waistband,” the prosecutor said. They administered first aid until EMS arrived, Billhimer said. The K-9 was treated at a local animal…
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