Bridgeton Police Officer Charged with Civil Rights Violation and Submitting False Police Report | USAO-NJ

CAMDEN, NJ – A Bridgeton City police officer has been charged with crimes resulting from an attack on the streets of Bridgeton, US Attorney General Rachael A. Honig said today.

John Grier III, 49, of Cedarville, New Jersey, is charged with violating a person’s civil rights and falsifying protocol for submitting a false police report of the attack in an unsealed charge today. A federal grand jury returned the sealed indictment on June 30, 2021. Grier surrendered this morning and was charged via video conference before US judge Ann Marie Donio. He was released on $ 50,000 bail.

“One of the most important tasks we have in the Justice Department is the responsibility to investigate and prosecute police officers who abuse their power and deprive our citizens of their civil rights,” said acting US Attorney Honey. “This office will continue to indict officials like these defendants who violently dishonor their badges when it is neither appropriate nor necessary, thereby failing to fulfill their duty to protect the public they serve.”

“Civil rights violations are of great concern, especially when the allegations involve a law enforcement officer,” said Newark FBI Special Agent George M. Crouch Jr they serve, protect and keep them safe. If that trust is violated, it will be more difficult for our police colleagues and federal agents to maintain the trust of the community. “

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Bridgeton Police Department (BPD) officers were dispatched to a Bridgeton gas station on June 18, 2017 after two men were sitting at the gas station yelling at passers-by. When an officer arrived, he found the victim in the driver’s seat of a car parked by the gas pump, and another man was in the passenger seat. In response to the radio call, Grier came in as a substitute officer.

Eventually the driver and passenger were summoned and Grier left the petrol station. Within minutes, an officer who remained at the gas station called for help because the driver and passenger had alighted and were approaching him before he could drive off. As Grier drove back to the gas station, he grabbed a large can of OC spray and pulled out the pen ready for use.

When Grier arrived, the driver yelled at the officers. Grier ordered the driver to get back into his vehicle and warned him that if he approached the officers again, he would be arrested. The driver and passenger returned to their car and drove to the side of the gas station. At that point, the police officers had likely reason to arrest the victim for driving while drunk.

The officers approached the car to arrest the victim. Grier got out of his car with the large can of OC spray in hand and told another officer to “step back” even though the officer had almost finished handcuffing the victim. While holding the OC spray, Grier asked the victim, “Do you want to feel pain, sir?” Other officers were able to handcuff the victim without incident.

When an officer tried to put the handcuffed victim in the back of a patrol car, Grier splashed the victim in the face. The victim doubled over. An officer helped the victim up and sat him on the edge of the back seat of the police SUV. Grier then sprayed the victim a second time. After the second OC spray on his face, Grier asked the driver: “There, how do you like it now? Now get in the goddamn car. “

Grier returned to the police station to prepare his report on the victim’s arrest. Grier prepared and submitted a false and fraudulent police report in which Grier incorrectly stated that the victim “refused”. [to enter the police vehicle] and continue to forcibly stay outside the vehicle “and in an effort to falsely justify using the OC spray a second time,” the spray failed to hit ” [the victim] on the face and that it didn’t work right away[.]”

Violation of civil rights carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Counting false records carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. The maximum fine for any fee is $ 250,000.

The allegations and allegations contained in the indictment are merely allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Acting US Attorney Honey attributed the investigations that led to today’s indictment to FBI special agents, the Atlantic City Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent Crouch in Newark. Acting US Attorney Honey also thanked the Internal Affairs Division of the Bridgeton Police Department, under the direction of Chief Michael A. Gaimari Sr.; New Jersey Attorney General’s investigators and detectives, led by Attorney General Gurbir Grewal; and the Cumberland County Attorney’s Office, led by Attorney Jennifer Webb-McCray.

The government is represented by Assistant Attorney General Jason M. Richardson of the Criminal Division of the US Attorney’s Office in Camden.