$600,000 New Jersey Personal Injury Settlement for Alleged Seaside Park Police Brutality
The borough of Seaside Park has agreed to a combined $600,000 personal injury settlement with three people who claimed police brutality following an arrest occurring more than two years ago. Jose Roman, Melanie Bruno and Melissa Bruno had alleged that they were the victims of police brutality after being arrested on November 22, 2004 at the Saw Mill Tavern, according to a story in the Asbury Park Press.
This police brutality settlement ended a civil trial which was in its second phase. Last month, a jury had rejected two allegations of excessive force, but did find that other allegations of excessive force and falsifying a police record were valid. According to the plaintiffs’ personal injury attorney, Kevin McCann, the three plaintiffs will split the settlement money.
This case is not the first time that Seaside Park police offers have been accused of brutality. An Asbury Park Press story in May 2006 detailed a former Seaside Park dispatcher’s allegations that several officers regularly used unnecessary force on suspects, and even bragged about their actions while higher-ranking officers looked the other way. Barbara Kierney said in the story that such Seaside Park police brutality incidents were so common that they all blended together.
According to the May 2006 story, Kierney’s accusations prompted a request for an internal affairs investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office. According to the office at that time, nine internal-affairs investigations of Seaside Park officers had been conducted since the beginning of 2003 to August 12, 2005. None of those investigations led to any criminal charges of police brutality.
Kierney described one alleged incident in which a Seaside Park police officer bragged about ripping the earring out of the ear of Sean Foley while he was in custody. Foley filed a personal injury lawsuit last in July of 2005 against the Seaside Park Police Department and the borough. Foley claimed that Seaside Park police officers beat him while he was in custody. We’ll keep you updated on any developments in this Seaside Park case and any other police brutality cases.