Category: CNB CRIME

Officer Down: Sheriff John \”Big John\” Williams, Sr. Shot and Killed Responding to a Trespassing Call

Sheriff John \”Big John\” Williams, Sr.

Lowndes County Sheriff\’s Office, Alabama

End of Watch

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Sheriff John Williams was shot and killed at 8:00 pm while responding to a trespassing and noise complaint call at a convenience store at the intersection of Highway 21 and Highway 97 in Hayneville.

He had responded to the store after an employee of the store had called to report a large gathering of people in the parking lot who would not leave. Sheriff Williams arrived at the scene and was talking with an occupant of a truck when the man shot him.

The man fled in the truck but later returned to the scene and turned himself in. The truck was later determined to have been stolen.

Sheriff Williams had served in law enforcement for over 40 years. He is survived by his wife and children.

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published Gloucestercitynews.net | November 24,  2019

CNBNews Tips/Snippets: Growing Up Gloucester; White Supremacist a Fireman; Graffiti Problem in City

William E. Cleary Sr. | CNBNews

GROWING UP GLOUCESTER-

-Back in the day, everyone knew everyone in Gloucester City. In those days it wouldn\’t be unusual if you even knew some members of the outlaw Pagan\’s MC, who had one of the first chapters in the state located in Gloucester City.  The head of that chapter was a childhood friend of my wife Connie. He went through the local school system and graduated with her and other members of the GHS Class of \’62.

Related:

New Jersey Crime Investigators Say Pagan\’s MC Expanding Into State

After we got married we lived in one of the row homes in the 700 block of Powell Street. This one particular day in 1967, Connie was sitting outside on the front step

with two of our kids who were no more than babies at the time. A roar of motorcycles come riding up Powell Street heading east towards Broadway. There were 20 or more guys dressed in dungaree jackets with Pagan etc written on the back.

It was a scary sight.

At the head of the pack was this guy with shades on with a goat tee and a fu man mustache wearing a Viking helmet with two horns. He had pythons for biceps and his arms were decorated with tats from his shoulders down to his wrists. He and some of the

others drive pass Connie when the guy in the front, apparently the leader, suddenly raises his hand signaling everyone to stop.

Related:

Fond Memories of Growing Up in Gloucester City/South Jersey Area and The Geator

The leader turns his big Harley around and drives up on the sidewalk stopping in front of Connie and the kids. The guy with the Viking helmet jumps off the cycle gives her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She didn’t realize who it was until he removed his helmet; it was her childhood friend and classmate.

GROWING UP GLOUCESTER–The Cleary Family celebrating Christmas in the 1950s

In the meantime, traffic is backed up on the street in both directions as the members remained on their cycles. None of the neighbors came outside. Instead, you could see them peeking out their blinds no doubt wondering what was happening. After five minutes or so the leader of the pack jumps on his Harley and drives to the front of the line signaling everyone to follow him. You could hear their Harleys roar all the way to Broadway and beyond.

Related: Gloucester City History

Finding a parking spot on Powell Street in front of your house was a daily challenge but after that day we never had a problem. The spot was always open for our car. I always wondered if that day we had the leader of the local Pagans visit our family had anything to do with it.

GROWING UP GLOUCESTER–from left to right, Billy Hampton, Marie Connoley, Trudy Bodenschatz, Tom Ferry and Ed Ferry. Location 8th and Division Streets. Check out the shorts the two Ferry boys are wearing? Sixty plus years ago if you were a kid your underwear could also be worn for your summer shorts. And nobody cared. Of course, if your Dad or Grandpop tried to get away with running outside in their underwear, there was a good chance they would go to jail.

WHITE SUPREMACIST WAS A FIREMAN-

–

Brooklawn resident Richard Tobin who was arrested last week for allegedly conspiring with a hate group against the rights of minorities and Jewish people, was a member of the local

volunteer fire department, according to several news outlets including

NJ.com

Brooklawn Fire Chief John McKinney told the media that Tobin had been a fireman for less than a year.

Federal authorities said Tobin expressed a desire to attack African-Americans. He is accused of telling people to vandalize Midwest synagogues.

Tobin was originally part of the fire company’s “Fire Service Explorers” program, a Boy Scouts of America program that introduces adolescents to a firefighting career, the chief said. A March 2018 Brooklawn fire company Facebook post congratulated Tobin on completing the Camden County College Fire Academy Junior Firefighter course. The chief said that he never had any issues with the 18-year-old.

Tobin told investigators that he was thinking about going to a North Jersey mall and attack African Americans with a machete. He blamed his hatred on all the turmoil in the United States.

McKinney said there was never an issue with Tobin. The chief declined further comment. On Monday, Tobin was still listed on the borough’s website as a member of the exploring program, but his name was removed by Tuesday.

Brooklawn Police Chief Shamus Ellis echoed those remarks, \”Prior to this investigation, I don\’t believe we have had any negative encounters with Tobin.\”

RELATED:

Alleged White Supremacist from Brooklawn Charged with Wanting to Kill Blacks, Jews, and Gays

According to the criminal complaint, Tobin allegedly directed members of a “white racially motivated violent extremist group\” to vandalize minority-owned properties through online platforms and encrypted messaging applications. The complaint did not identify the group but described it as a far-right group that has “proclaimed war against minority communities within the United States and abroad.\”

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported

that Tobin was acting as a member of The Base, a neo-Nazi group that “trains members in violence at ‘hate camps,’”

according to The Daily Beast

.

Tobin allegedly directed the group’s \”Great Lakes Cell” from his Brooklawn home, ordering an “Operation

Kristallnacht,” a reference to Nov. 9 to 10, 1938

, when Nazis in Germany burned down synagogues, vandalized Jewish homes and businesses and killed about 100 Jewish people.

GRAFFITI PROBLEM IN CITY

–A Gloucester City community activist, who wants to remain anonymous, submitted several photos of unsightly graffiti on Nicholson Road under the 676 overpass. The individual believes by bringing attention to the graffiti someone in the highway department or some other department will remove it.

If you have a Tip or story idea send it to CNBNews1@gmail.com. Your name will not be published if you request to remain anonymous.

RELATED:

Graffiti in Gloucester City

Camden County Association of Chiefs of Police has partnered with Policeapp

Would you like to be a police officer? The Camden County Association of Chiefs of Police has partnered with Policeapp to provide regionalized testing for possible available police positions in Camden County over the next 12 months. All participating agencies will have access to the results of the test to improve their application pool for Class I, Class II, Class III, and full time positions (non-civil service for full time positions).  If you know anyone who is interested, please share the below link with them to sign up for

the test.

Unfortunately, the Gloucester Township police Department is a Civil Service Department and will not participate in this program but please continue to follow us as we will advertise for the next Civil Service Test!

The test date will be Saturday, November 30, 2019 at Eastern High School (cafeteria) in the morning hours.

The deadline to register is 11/25, so please share if you have not already done so!

https://www.policeapp.com/Police-Associations/Camden-County-Association-of-Chiefs-of-Police/

http://www.policeapp.com

>

Address/Location

Gloucester Township Police Department

1261 Chews Landing Rd

Gloucester Township, NJ 08021

Contact

Emergency: 9-1-1

Non-emergencies: 856-228-4500

Delanco Man Pleads Guilty in 2018 Willingboro Double Fatal Collision

Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina announced that a Delanco man pled guilty today in Superior Court to causing the deaths of a married couple during a collision early lastyear in the jug

handle at Route 130 northbound and Bridgeboro Road in Willingboro Township.

Under an agreement with the Prosecutor’s Office, Amish Patel, 31, of Delanco, pled guilty to two counts of Vehicular Homicide (Second Degree) and Driving While Intoxicated for the deaths of Robert Stephens, 52, and his wife Janet, 50, of Burlington Township, on January 13, 2018.

According to the plea agreement, Patel will be sentenced to 12 ½ years in New Jersey state prison. Under the No Early Release Act, Patel must serve at least 85 percent of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole. The Hon. Philip E. Haines, J.S.C., scheduled sentencing for January 16, 2020.

Patel acknowledged before Judge Haines that he had been drinking and at the time of the accident was travelling at more than double the posted speed limit, which is 50 miles per hour along that stretch of Route 130.

The investigation revealed that at approximately 4:30 p.m., the Stephens’ minivan was stopped in the jug handle waiting to cross Route 130 onto Bridgeboro Road when Patel, who was traveling northbound on Route 130, lost control of his BMW 440, entered the jug handle and crashed into the minivan.

The force of the impact propelled the minivan over the guardrail and down an embankment, where it submerged into a body of water that is part of Olympia Lakes. Autopsies revealed that both victims had drowned.

Patel is being prosecuted by Assistant Prosecutor Josh Dennis, supervisor of the BCPO Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Unit, and Assistant Prosecutors Douglas J. Bligh and Brandon Almeida. The collision was investigated by the Prosecutor’s Office and the Willingboro Township Police Department. Assistance was provided at the scene by the Delran Township Police Department, Edgewater Park Township Police Department and the New Jersey State Police. The lead investigators were BCPO Detective Michael Reagan and Willingboro Township Police Detective Ed Walker.

DNREC Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police Blotter: Nov. 11-17

Reminder for the week: Required hunter education in Delaware

DOVER (Nov. 22, 2019) – To achieve public compliance with laws and regulations through education and enforcement actions that help conserve Delaware’s fish and wildlife resources and ensure safe boating and public

safety, DNREC’s Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police officers between Nov. 11-17 made 2,416 contacts with hunters, anglers, boaters, and the general public, issuing 40 citations. Officers responded to 74 complaints regarding possible violations of laws and regulations or requests to assist the public. A Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police presence continued at the C&D Canal Conservation Area and Michael N. Castle Trail.

Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police in the Community

On Nov. 17, Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police officers provided security and logistical support to the Blue Cheetah Timing C&D Canal Half Marathon & 5K held on the Michael N. Castle Trail in the C&D Canal Conservation Area.

Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police Actions

On Nov. 17, Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police officers completed an investigation with the arrest of a Harrington man for multiple charges of

illegal possession of firearms and ammunition by a person prohibited

.

Citations issued by category, with the number of charges in parentheses, included:

Wildlife Conservation:

Failure to tag antlered deer (4), possession of unlawfully taken antlered deer (1)*, removing antlered deer parts prior to checking (2), failure to purchase a hunter choice tag prior to killing an antlered deer (1), hunting deer with the aid of illegal bait on a wildlife area (6)*, spotlighting (1), hunting on a refuge (2), hunting deer on a Sunday on a state forest (1), hunting deer in archery season with weapon other than a bow (1), trespass to hunt (2), and unlicensed hunting (1).

Public Safety:

Failure to display required hunter orange during a firearms deer season (6), possession of a loaded firearm in a motor vehicle (3), and possession, purchase, ownership or control of a firearm or ammunition by a person prohibited (3).

Other:

Trespassing after hours on a state wildlife area (2)*, driving with a suspended or revoked license (1)*, operating an unregistered motor vehicle on a state wildlife area (1)*, fictitious tags (1)*, and operating a motor vehicle without insurance (1)*.

*

Includes citation(s) issued at the C&D Canal Conservation Area.

DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife recognizes and thanks the majority of anglers, hunters, and boaters who comply with and support Delaware’s fishing, hunting, and boating laws and regulations. The Public are encouraged to report fish, wildlife, and boating violations to the Delaware Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police by calling 302-739-4580 or through the DENRP Tip app on a smartphone, which can be downloaded free of charge by searching “DENRP Tip” via the Google Play Store or the iTunes App Store. Wildlife violations may also be reported anonymously to Operation Game Theft by calling 800-292-3030, going online to

http://de.gov/ogt

, or using the DENRP Tip app. Verizon customers can connect to Operation Game Theft directly by dialing #OGT.

Are you AWARE?

Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police remind the public that per Delaware law, all people born after Jan. 1, 1967, are required to satisfactorily complete a Basic Hunter Education Course to obtain a Delaware hunting license or youth hunting license. Children under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult when taking the course. Hunter education certification is not issued to children under 10 years of age. To learn more about Hunter Education, visit this

link

, or call

302-735-3600, Ext.1.

Man Charged with Running Meth Lab in Edgewater Park Garage

EDGEWATER PARK —

Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina and Edgewater Park Township Police Chief Robert D. Hess announced that a Beverly City man who was arrested earlier this week on narcotics offenses has been charged with operating a methamphetamine lab in a township home.

Daniel Lilly, 27, was charged with Maintaining or Operating a Controlled Dangerous Substance Production Facility (First Degree). He remains in Burlington County Jail in Mount Holly pending an appearance in Superior Court. The charges against him will be presented to a grand jury for possible indictment.

The charges stem from an investigation that originated after Lilly and an acquaintance, Tammy Coppoletta, 35, of Lindenwold, were stopped by Florence Township police on November 16 for a motor vehicle violation.

Lilly and Coppoletta, who was driving the car, were both found to be in possession of controlled dangerous substances and were charged. Additional charges were filed after a search of the vehicle by Florence Police Officer Nicholas Czepiel and K-9 Bolo revealed materials that are used to manufacture methamphetamine.

The Burlington County Hazardous Materials Unit was called to the scene and safely contained the chemicals.

On November 19, 2019, a search warrant was executed at a Colonial Road residence in Edgewater Park that resulted in the seizure of chemicals and equipment from the garage area that were being used by Lilly for methamphetamine production.

The investigation was conducted by the BCPO Gang, Gun and Narcotics Task Force, the New Jersey State Police, the Florence Township Police Department and the Edgewater Park Township Police Department.

All persons are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

OFFICER DOWN: Detroit Police Officer Rasheen McClain Shot & Killed

Police Officer Rasheen McClain

Detroit Police Department, Michigan

End of Watch

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Police Officer Rasheen McClain was shot and killed while responding to a domestic violence in which a woman’s boyfriend had broken into her home and threatened the occupants with a firearm.

When responding officers arrived on the scene, they encountered the victims outside. They informed Officer McClain that the man was inside of the home and armed. Officer McClain and other officers began clearing the home to locate the subject. They had cleared the main level and second floor before they began to clear the basement.

As they made their way down the basement stairs the man emerged at the bottom and opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle, striking Officer McClain in the neck and another officer in the leg. The subject was wounded by additional officers after running outside of the home. He was taken into custody one block away as he attempted to flee on foot.

Officer McClain had served with the Detroit Police Department for 16 years and was assigned to the 12th Precinct.

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published Gloucestercitynews.net | November 23,  2019

Pennsylvania Senate Votes to Ban Abortions in Down Syndrome Cases

By Steve Bittenbender |

The Center Square

HARRISBURG, PA–The Pennsylvania Senate on Wednesday voted, 27-22, to advance legislation that would ban abortions in cases where a fetus has been diagnosed with Down syndrome in spite of a promised veto from Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf.

Caused by the presence of an extra chromosome, Down syndrome causes intellectual disabilities and delayed physical development. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, roughly 6,000 babies are born with some type of the condition each year.

“It just seems to me that the genesis of the bill is just about a fundamental right to be born,” said state Sen. Judy Ward, R-Hollidaysburg, when the legislation, House Bill 321, was considered Monday by the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. “And that’s what I see as just a fundamental right.”

Pennsylvania state Sen. Judy Ward speaks Sept. 11, 2019, during a hearing of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee. Image courtesy of the Pennsylvania Senate

While Republicans wholeheartedly supported the measure, Democrats, such as state Sen. Judy Schwank, D-Reading, opposed the bill as an attempt to restrict women’s rights.

“I don’t think legislators, government period, has a role to play in the relationship between a mother and a doctor and her family or whoever else she wishes to consult with,” Schwank told state Rep. Kate Klunk, R-Hanover, the bill’s sponsor, during Monday’s hearing. “I just find this really troubling.”

Klunk added that her bill does grant exceptions for pregnancies created through acts of rape or incest and for instances when the pregnancy puts a mother’s health at risk.

The bill faces opposition from reproductive rights groups, such as Planned Parenthood. Another group, the Women’s Law Project, said in a tweet that the bill targets families dealing with complicated pregnancies and deprives people of their constitutional rights.

“The bill’s supporters pretend it is designed to protect people with disabilities, but in reality it merely seeks to force doctors to police patients’ reasons for exercising their constitutional right to abortion if such a decision is considered in the wake of a prenatal diagnosis,” the Women’s Law Project said Monday in a statement on its website. “It is simply more political interference into the exam room.”

Anti-abortion advocates hailed the bill, saying women are often urged to terminate such pregnancies.

“[The legislation] sends a compassionate message to Pennsylvania communities that no human being should be targeted for death by abortion because of a disability,” Michael Geer, president of the Pennsylvania Family Institute, said in a statement.

Wolf spokesman J.J. Abbott reiterated the governor\’s veto promise shortly after the vote Wednesday evening, noting that Wolf \”has said repeatedly, he will veto any bill, including House Bill 321, that seeks to limit health care choices for women and politicize difficult moments for vulnerable families.\”

posted here with permission

|

The Center Square

Active-Shooter Drills in Schools May Do More Harm Than Good, Says Rutgers–Camden Nursing Scholar

CAMDEN CITY, NJ (Nov. 22, 2019)–– Active-shooter drills in schools expose students to frighteningly realistic scenarios with masked intruders and loud gunfire sounds. They also may be doing more harm than good, says a Rutgers University–Camden nursing scholar who urges school and law enforcement officials alike to include school nurses in their plans to prepare for violent situations.

Robin Cogan

, a lecturer in the

Rutgers School of Nursing‒Camden

and lead author of an article published in Current Trauma Reports, says school nurses are ideally positioned to work with other medical professionals, law enforcement, and government officials who are committed to public health approaches to prevent mass shootings.

In the article, titled “School Nurses Share Their Voices, Trauma, and Solutions by Sounding the Alarm on Gun Violence,” Cogan and her co-authors say school nurses know of the acute need for evidence-supported, school-based mental health services. Based on those metrics, active-shooter drills may not be achieving their desired outcomes.

Since World War I, schools have been holding safety drills, fire drills, and natural disaster drills, but Cogan says today’s active-shooter drills can expose students and staff to frighteningly realistic scenarios.

Cogan says there is no evidence to show that the drills are effective in preparing students, teachers, and administrators to deal with gun violence in schools.

“While the incidence of school shootings is rare, now more than 95 percent of schools across the country have active-shooter drills,” says Cogan, who also works as a school nurse in Camden. “We do not prepare our students for fire drills by making them walk through smoke and debris-filled hallways.”

Cogan worries about the impact that the drills have on the psychological development of young children, and the effect the drills have on school nurses.

In the article, the authors share concerns from school nurses who have participated in active-shooter drills. One nurse reports that her heart sank the day she was in her office when she heard the sounds of gunshots from the school’s loudspeaker. She did not know if it was an unannounced lockdown drill or if there was an active shooter in the building. Instinctively, she locked her office door, closed the blinds, and hid in a corner. After she found out it was just a drill and the gunfire sounds were from an app used by the person running the drill, she did not understand the need to endure the fear and concern for herself and everyone in the building.

“Our brains cannot always differentiate when an incident is real or just a drill,” says Cogan, who adds that there is no evidence that even some of the most recognized programs – including Alert Lockdown Inform Counter Evacuate (ALICE), which uses a run, hide, fight options framework – are effective in preventing injuries.

Among the problems Cogan sees with the programs are that they are not evidence-based and do not consider the students’ ages and developmental stages, if they have special health care needs, or if they have learning challenges.

“These are reactive measures and are not taking into consideration the need for preventative programs to create a culture of kindness, acceptance, and safety in schools,” says Cogan. “Money is being spent on hardening schools instead of softening them.”

Cogan and her co-authors suggest a better approach to preventing violence: a multistrategy, multidisciplinary approach that takes into consideration student and faculty development, and mental and emotional health. They authors say investing in a nurse workforce in the school “would transform fear into courage and anticipation into action by implementing student-focused strategies rooted in prevention.”

The Rutgers–Camden educator says that an emergency preparedness program such as Stop the Bleed, a national awareness program launched by the White House in 2015, may be effective in saving lives. The program encourages bystanders to be trained to help stop bleeding victims in an emergency before medical professionals arrive.

The Sandy Hook Promise organization offers programs that encourage relationship building, which Cogan says could help to prevent violence. She says initiatives that focus on safe gun storage to keep guns out of the hands of students and offering gun locks to families on Back to School Night activities could also be effective.

Cogan’s own family experience motivates her to work to prevent gun violence. In 1949, her father was 12 years old when he hid in a closet in his family’s Camden home while a deranged neighbor went on a shooting rampage, killing Cogan’s grandmother, grandfather, and great-grandmother, and 10 other people in the city. Nearly 70 years later, Cogan’s 17-year-old niece hid in a Parkland, Fla., high school closet with her teacher and other students in 2018, when a gunman opened fire at the school. Fourteen students and three teachers died, and 17 students were injured.

“My decision to use my position as a school nurse to fight against gun violence came from a promise I made to my sister and niece in the aftermath of the Parkland shootings,” says Cogan. “Prevention of firearm violence belongs in the health care arena and requires funding for research as any public health issue has been afforded.”

The article, “School Nurses Share Their Voices, Trauma, and Solutions by Sounding the Alarm on Gun Violence,” is co-authored by

Donna Nickitas

, dean of the Rutgers School of Nursing–Camden, Donna Mazyck of the National Association of School Nurses, and Sunny Hallowell of Villanova University

FORMER MILLVILLE POLICE OFFICER PLEADS GUILTY TO FELONY CHARGES

TRENTON

– Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced that a former Millville police officer pleaded guilty today to felony charges related to two separate incidents in which he used excessive force against women during arrests.

Joseph Dixon, 28, of Millville, N.J., pleaded guilty today to an accusation charging him with two counts of third-degree aggravated assault before Superior Court Judge Robert Malestein in Cumberland County.  Under the plea agreement, the state will recommend that Dixon be sentenced to 364 days in the county jail and a term of probation.  Dixon will be permanently barred from law enforcement and other public employment in New Jersey.  He recently resigned from the Millville Police Department.  Dixon is scheduled to be sentenced on January 17, 2020.

Deputy Attorney General Brian Uzdavinis took the guilty plea for the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA), which conducted a comprehensive investigation of Dixon’s use of force record while employed as a police officer in Millville.

In pleading guilty, Dixon admitted that he purposely, knowingly, or recklessly with extreme indifference to the value of human life attempted to cause or caused significant bodily injury to two women by using excessive force when arresting them during separate incidents in 2018.  One of the women suffered seven broken ribs.

“These guilty pleas reflect our resolve to ensure that law enforcement officers are held accountable if they use violent force against civilians without justification,” said Attorney General Grewal.  “When officers use force that has no reasonable relationship to any resistance or threat they face, as Dixon did, they not only injure and traumatize those involved, they do a tremendous disservice to all of their fellow officers who uphold the highest law enforcement standards and work hard to secure the trust of the communities they serve.”

“One of the missions of the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability is to investigate alleged crimes and civil rights violations by law enforcement officers,” said OPIA Director Thomas Eicher.  “Nobody is above the law, and if we have sufficient proof that an officer has committed a crime, we will prosecute that officer as we would any other individual.  This former officer will rightly carry a felony record for the rest of his life.”

The incidents that led to the charges against Dixon occurred in early 2018.  One incident occurred on Feb. 25, 2018, when Dixon arrested a woman for driving while intoxicated on West Main Street in Millville.  When the woman repeatedly asked to call her husband and twice turned to face Dixon as he tried to handcuff her, Dixon grabbed the woman around the neck, flipped her over his extended leg, and threw her to the ground.  He then dropped on top of her to handcuff her.  Afterward, Dixon ignored the woman’s repeated pleas that he had broken her ribs, that she could not breathe, and that she needed to go to the hospital.  Instead, Dixon told her that if she could talk, she could breathe, and he drove her to the police station for breath testing and processing.  Dixon failed to note that the woman complained of broken ribs in his investigative report, and he indicated in his use-of-force report that no injuries occurred.  In fact, the woman suffered seven broken ribs, one of which had to be removed.

A month later, on March 24, 2018, Dixon responded to a shoplifting call involving a juvenile male at a local supermarket.  During the call, the shoplifter’s mother became argumentative because she could not produce the identification requested for officers to release her child to her custody.  Dixon told her that she was under arrest.  When the woman backed away from Dixon, he grabbed her upper body with both arms, flipped her over, and slammed her down on the floor. He then dropped on top of her and used pepper spray on her while handcuffing her, despite the immediate presence of dozens of people of varying ages, many of whom reacted to the spray.  Dixon took the woman to the police station for processing, but relatives called for an ambulance and she was taken to the hospital as soon as she arrived at the police station.  The woman suffered a bruised hip and burning eyes from the pepper spray.

The Attorney General’s Office would like to thank the Prosecutor Jennifer Webb McRae and the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office for its assistance in the investigation.

Attorney General Grewal created the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability in September 2018 to combat official misconduct and strengthen public confidence in government institutions and law enforcement.  OPIA has a toll-free Tipline 1-844-OPIA-TIPS for the public to report official misconduct and crimes involving government employees.

The AG’s Office has an Anti-Corruption Reward Program that offers a reward of up to $25,000 for tips leading to a conviction for a crime involving public corruption.  Information is posted at:

http://nj.gov/oag/corruption/reward.html

.

Defense Attorney: Andrew Butchko, Esq., Helmer, Conley & Kasselman, P.A., Somers Point, N.J.