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The crash occurred on the highway's southbound side near Sunset Avenue in Ocean Township shortly after 9 p.m. Monday, April 15, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said on Tuesday.
The identity of the scooter rider, who was pronounced dead at the scene, was temporarily being withheld, as was the name of the on-duty Ocean Township officer, Platkin said.
Neither the officer nor anyone else involved in the crash was injured, he said.
State law and his own guidelines require Platkin to review any civilian 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 guidelines guarantee that the investigation is done “in a full, impartial and transparent manner," removing politics or personal agendas, the attorney general has said.
Such investigations by Platkin’s Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) ordinarily include witness interviews, photographs, review of video footage, and autopsy results from a medical examiner.
The evidence is all presented to a grand jury in a "neutral, objective manner, and with appropriate transparency,” Platkin said.
After hearing the testimony and reviewing the evidence, grand jurors vote on whether to clear the officer or bring charges.
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