48°
Christian Tawadros was with three other juveniles who hopped the divider and dashed across Route 208 just north of Fair Lawn Avenue in Fair Lawn on April 14, 2019.
Christian, who was in a special education program at the Thomas Jefferson Middle School, had joined his 7th-grade brother and two friends to go out to eat, a source with direct knowledge of the incident told Daily Voice at the time.
The older boy "took Christian everywhere with him," the person said, adding that the group "made the wrong decision to cross 208 in the rain" just after 9 p.m.
“Three of the juveniles crossed the northbound lanes, jumped over the center divider, and ran across the southbound lanes,” Acting New Jersey Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck said Wednesday.
“The decedent, who was behind the other three juveniles, crossed the northbound lanes, climbed over the center divider, and was struck in the center of the left southbound lane by a marked Bergen County Sheriff’s Office SUV driven by Officer [Michael] Sansevere.
“The officer was on duty,” Bruck said, “but was not responding to a call for service at the time.
“After the impact, Officer Sansevere brought his vehicle to an immediate stop, activated his emergency lights, notified dispatch of the collision, exited his vehicle, and assessed the child’s condition.
“Emergency medical personnel responded, and the child was pronounced deceased at the scene,” the attorney general said.
Sansevere, who joined the sheriff’s office in 2007 and later became a K-9 officer, was "beside himself with grief," a colleague told Daily Voice at the time, calling him “a great guy, a good officer.”
Surveillance video showed Sansevere slowing down his 2010 Chevy Tahoe for what appeared to be three shadowy figures -- Christian's brother and his friends -- off the roadway.
The boy then suddenly darted in front of him.
Despite the obvious circumstances, state law and attorney general guidelines both require Bruck 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."
The guidelines guarantee that the investigation is done “in a full, impartial and transparent manner."
Once the investigation is complete, the results are presented to a grand jury -- ordinarily consisting of 16 to 23 citizens -- that determines whether or not there's cause to suspect any wrongdoing on the part of law enforcement.
In this case, the investigation “included interviews of witnesses; review of footage from the mobile video recorder in the police vehicle; and autopsy results from the medical examiner,” Bruck said Wednesday.
“After hearing testimony and evidence from the investigation, the grand jury concluded its deliberations yesterday, Nov. 9, and voted ‘no bill,’ meaning a majority of grand jurors concluded that no charges should be filed against Officer Sansevere,” he said.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Washington Township and receive free news updates.
