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State law requires them to review the Oct. 17 incident in Fort Lee despite the circumstances because the death occurred during an encounter with law enforcement.
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin's office identified the victim as Fredy Rolando Queveda -- although loved ones and court records identified him as Fredy Quevedo, a 40-year-old Guatemalan immigrant.
The officer had a green light on eastbound Bruce Reynolds Boulevard while responding to a non-emergency call when the northbound electric bike slammed into the cruiser on Lemoine Avenue at 5:45 a.m. last Monday, Port Authority Police Spokeswoman Lenis Valens said.
The motorcycle operator was taken to Englewood Hospital and Medical Center and pronounced dead at 6:27 a.m., Platkin said.
The officer, meanwhile, was taken to a nearby hospital with injuries that weren't considered life-threatening, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said.
State law requires Platkin's office to investigate all deaths that occur in New Jersey “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 guidelines guarantee that the investigation by the attorney general's Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) is done “in a full, impartial and transparent manner," removing politics or personal agendas.
Once the investigation is complete, the results are presented to a grand jury.
The grand jury reviews a host of evidence -- including witness interviews, body and dashcam video, and forensic and autopsy results -- to determine whether or not there was cause to suspect any wrongdoing on the part of law enforcement.
In this particular case, there were witnesses as well as various area surveillance cameras.
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