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Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA)

Police & Fire
NJ Police Officer Justified In Shooting Driver To Stop Backhoe Rampage, Grand Jury Rules NJ Police Officer Justified In Shooting Driver To Stop Backhoe Rampage, Grand Jury Rules
NJ Police Officer Justified In Shooting Driver To Stop Backhoe Rampage, Grand Jury Rules UPDATE: A local New Jersey police sergeant was justified in shooting a man who hijacked a backhoe and went on a rampage, damaging two police vehicles, an ambulance and an occupied civilian sedan before he was finally stopped. Although authorities collected a trove of surveillance and bodycam video showing precisely what led to the death of Joshua Gonzalez, 20, of Millville, state law still required a grand jury to review the outcome. Gonzalez kept police at bay for nearly a half-hour during the video-recorded rampage in Vineland, which began around 5 a.m. on Dec. 18, 2021, on West Park Dri…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
CHILLING VIDEO: Sharp-Shooting Officer Downs Rifle-Wielding NJ Madman Who Threatened Woman CHILLING VIDEO: Sharp-Shooting Officer Downs Rifle-Wielding NJ Madman Who Threatened Woman
Chilling Video: Sharp-Shooting Officer Downs Rifle-Wielding NJ Madman Who Threatened Woman Gripping video shows an irate man with a rifle threatening to kill a female homeowner before a steady-nerved local New Jersey police officer takes him down from a distance with a single shot. The fatal encounter from earlier this year plays out in a collection of video -- including one from the hero officer's body cam and another from a surveillance camera pointed directly at the house -- that was released by state Attorney General Matthew Platkin. The video is part of a state-mandated investigation into the police-involved death of Daniel Nevius Sr., 55, of Sicklerville this past January.…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
BETRAYER OF THE BADGE: NJ Officer Admits Using Authority On Duty To Pressure Women Into Sex BETRAYER OF THE BADGE: NJ Officer Admits Using Authority On Duty To Pressure Women Into Sex
Betrayer OF THE Badge: NJ Officer Admits Using Authority On Duty To Pressure Women Into Sex UPDATE: A Vernon Township police officer who was accused of groping a Bergen County woman during a domestic violence call admitted abusing his authority on duty to force women to submit to his sexual advances. Emanuel Rivera, 38, acknowledged the “imbalance of power” between him and the women he was hitting on, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and Acting Sussex County Prosecutor Annmarie Taggart said in a joint statement. This left them unable to consent, he admitted, because of the “coercive, intimidating nature of such requests” coming from a uniformed police officer," the s…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Troopers Justified In Shooting Driver From Poconos Who Shot Dog, Grand Jury Rules NJ Troopers Justified In Shooting Driver From Poconos Who Shot Dog, Grand Jury Rules
NJ Troopers Justified In Shooting Driver From Poconos Who Shot Dog, Grand Jury Rules A country music song played on the car stereo as a Pennsylvania driver who'd just crashed into a ditch off Route 80 shot his dog and was then shot and killed by two New Jersey State Police troopers. The troopers’ actions were justified, a grand jury has found. Panel members reviewed a collection of videos, among other evidence, before rendering their decision earlier this week, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said Thursday, March 2. The videos, which can be found here, show the two troopers approaching the disabled vehicle from either side on Starlite Hill Road in the Columbia…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Bad Heart Killed NJ Man, 73, While In Police Custody, Grand Jury Finds Bad Heart Killed NJ Man, 73, While In Police Custody, Grand Jury Finds
Bad Heart Killed NJ Man, 73, While In Police Custody, Grand Jury Finds Newark police bore no responsibility in the death from heart disease of a 73-year-old man who collapsed in the back seat of a patrol car, a state grand jury has found. Juan Restrepo of Summit had been taken into custody by officers who'd responded to a report of an intoxicated man behind the wheel of a vehicle on June 15, 2020, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. “He was then transported to [an] NJ TRANSIT station, where officials attempted to obtain a Breathalyzer reading,” the attorney general said. “A reading was not able to be obtained.” Restrepo “was subsequent…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Officers Justified In Shooting PA Man Who Rushed Them With Broken Bottle, Grand Jury Finds NJ Officers Justified In Shooting PA Man Who Rushed Them With Broken Bottle, Grand Jury Finds
NJ Officers Justified In Shooting PA Man Who Rushed Them With Broken Bottle, Grand Jury Finds UPDATE: Police in South Jersey had no choice but to shoot a Pennsylvania man who rushed at them with a broken bottle, a grand jury has found. Grand jurors had crystal-clear bodycam video of officers alternately imploring and commanding Amir Johnson, 30, to drop the bottle during a late-afternoon standoff in the middle of an Atlantic County highway in August 2020. “We don't wanna do this, man. Stop! Stop!" a Ventnor police officer shouts over and over in the video. “Put it down, bro, we don’t wanna do this,” another officer yells. Johnson, of Wilkes-Barre, keeps coming, however, and is onl…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Man Shot By Police In Edison Identified, Was Wielding Short-Handled Ax, Attorney General Says Man Shot By Police In Edison Identified, Was Wielding Short-Handled Ax, Attorney General Says
Man Shot By Police In Edison Identified, Was Wielding Short-Handled Ax, Attorney General Says UPDATE: A man was wielding an ax when police who encountered him outside his Edison home shot and killed him, state authorities said. Merrill Rambarose, 49, was pronounced dead at the scene after two officers opened fire on Judson Street at the Margate co-op complex just off Route 1 and the Menlo Park Mall at 4:41 p.m. April 12, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. "A short-handled ax was recovered near Mr. Rambarose," the attorney general said Police had been called there a little under an hour earlier. There they "encountered Mr. Rambarose in a parking lot of the …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Grand Jury: Morris Police Sergeant Justified Shooting Man Pointing Airsoft Gun Grand Jury: Morris Police Sergeant Justified Shooting Man Pointing Airsoft Gun
Grand Jury: Morris Police Sergeant Justified Shooting Man Pointing Airsoft Gun UPDATE: A police sergeant was justified in shooting a Morris Township man who pointed an airsoft gun at him during a domestic disturbance call, a state grand jury has ruled. Timothy O’Shea, 24, was bleeding from the neck and wrists when officers responding to a 911 call found him in the driveway of his Fairchild Avenue home on July 14, 2020, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said Tuesday, April 12. Several responding officers -- from the township, Morris Plains and Morristown – had gotten the older female caller to safety when they encountered O’Shea, the attorney genera…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ State Police Bear No Responsibility In Driver's Fatal Medical Episode Off Rt 80: Grand Jury NJ State Police Bear No Responsibility In Driver's Fatal Medical Episode Off Rt 80: Grand Jury
NJ State Police Bear No Responsibility In Driver's Fatal Medical Episode Off Rt 80: Grand Jury New Jersey State Police bear no responsibility for the death of a diabetic Paterson driver who had a medical episode in the back of their cruiser following a traffic stop outside their barracks, a state grand jury has found. The troopers had handcuffed Sergio Rodriguez, 51, and led him to their marked SUV after finding heroin in his car during a stop outside their substation on Minnisink Road, just off Route 80 in Totowa, on June 27, 2020. Rodriguez had been using a cellphone while driving, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. Body camera footage shows a trooper aski…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Grand Jury: Police Justified Shooting Fleeing Driver Who Pointed Gun On NJ Highway Intersection Grand Jury: Police Justified Shooting Fleeing Driver Who Pointed Gun On NJ Highway Intersection
Grand Jury: Police Justified Shooting Fleeing Driver Who Pointed Gun On NJ Highway Intersection UPDATE: Police were justified in shooting a fleeing motorist when he pointed a gun at them at a convergence of highways in Wayne, a state grand jury has found. Bradley G. Pullman, 48, of Queens is seen on dashcam video pointing the gun out of his Lexus sedan following a high-speed chase that ended at the “spaghetti bowl” intersection of Route 46, 23 and 80 near the Willowbrook Mall. The video was among the evidence reviewed by the grand jury, along with witness testimony, reports and autopsy results, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck said. Grand jury reviews are mandated …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
AG: 9MM Handgun, Spent Casings Found Near Paterson Man Shot, Killed By City Detective AG: 9MM Handgun, Spent Casings Found Near Paterson Man Shot, Killed By City Detective
AG: 9MM Handgun, Spent Casings Found Near Paterson Man Shot, Killed By City Detective A Facebook video recorded by a civilian was included in recordings released Wednesday by the New Jersey Attorney General's Office as part of a required investigation into the fatal shooting last month of a Paterson man by a city police detective. A 9mm handgun was recovered -- along with nine 9mm shell casings -- near the body of Thelonious McKnight, 25, in a backyard alleyway off East Main Street shortly before 9 p.m. on Dec. 29, 2021, Acting Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck said. It all happened in an instant. Storefront and city surveillance cameras shows a group of men hanging out and…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Obsession Produces One Year Without Parole For NJSP Trooper Who Stalked Female Driver Obsession Produces One Year Without Parole For NJSP Trooper Who Stalked Female Driver
Obsession Produces One Year Without Parole For Njsp Trooper Who Stalked Female Driver A New Jersey state trooper is headed to prison for a plea-bargained 12 months without parole for stalking a female driver while on duty and disabling his dashcam to cover it up. Trooper Michael Patterson, 30, of Bayonne also forfeited his job -- and any future public employment in New Jersey -- as part of a deal in which he pleaded guilty this summer to tampering with public records. Patterson admitted pulling the victim over twice and then following her home to hit on her in January 2020, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck said. Patterson’s behavior “stands in stark contr…

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by Jerry DeMarco