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Trooper Michael Patterson, 30, had pulled the victim over twice and then followed her home to hit on her, an indictment returned by a grand jury in Trenton had charged.
Patterson took a deal from prosecutors and pleaded guilty Monday in Superior Court in New Brunswick to tampering with public records rather than risk trial, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck said.
In exchange, he must spend a full year in state prison, must forfeit his job and can never hold a public position in New Jersey again, Bruck said.
Patterson’s behavior “stands in stark contrast to the core values of the New Jersey State Police and is a betrayal to the public and to the entire law enforcement community,” NJSP Supt. Col. Patrick J. Callahan said.
Bruck agreed.
“The New Jersey State Police expect the highest standards of conduct from their troopers, and the vast majority meet those standards each and every day,” the attorney general said. “We owe it to the troopers, and to the public at large, to take strong action when individual officers betray those standards and engage in criminal conduct.”
Patterson first stopped the victim for an unspecified offense on the New Jersey Turnpike on Jan. 28, 2020, the indictment alleged.
After letting her go with a warning, it said, Paterson “conducted a second, unwarranted stop of her vehicle a few minutes later when she exited the Turnpike at Exit 11 in order to make unwanted advances on the woman,” Bruck said.
“Patterson disabled the DIVR in his vehicle to prevent his conduct from being recorded during this stop,” the attorney general said.
The trooper also “put the victim in fear by following her to her home in his patrol vehicle,” he said.
Superior Court Judge Andrea Carter scheduled sentencing for Oct. 18.
Deputy Attorneys General Adam Gerken and Jonathan Gilmore represented the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) at the plea hearing, Bruck said.
The New Jersey State Police Office of Professional Standards initially investigated the case and referred it to the OPIA Corruption Bureau, he said.
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