Teen Suing EHC, Police Officer, and Others

MICHELLE BRUNETTI POST, Staff Writer
 
A local teenager is suing Egg Harbor City, a former police officer and a resident over a 2014 incident in which he was allegedly held at gunpoint by a passerby, and had his front teeth knocked out by an officer responding to a complaint about kids throwing pine cones at cars.

It’s the latest problem for a police department that was recently criticized in an Atlantic County Prosecutor’s report for being poorly run and not using accepted best practices.

 The suit named Christopher Hoffman, then an Egg Harbor City Police Officer, and retired Atlantic City Police Officer and former Egg Harbor City Councilman Dennis Munoz, as well as unnamed other police officers and supervisors.

Hoffman, who left the department in 2015 after the city moved to discipline him, could not be reached for comment and his lawyer did not return phone calls. Munoz declined to comment.

The incident galvanized the minority community at the time, causing large crowds to come to City Council meetings to demand a change in culture at the predominantly white police department.

Kenneth Burrell III, of Egg Harbor City, is now 17 and about to graduate from Cedar Creek High School. He was 15 when the incident happened, said his attorney Sarah Blumberg-Weinstock of Weinstock & Associates in Atlantic City.

Burrell is biracial, she said.

The suit was filed Feb. 17 for Burrell by his mother, Teresa Rivera, also of Egg Harbor City, according to the filing.

According to the Burrell suit, at about 11:25 p.m. on Feb. 22, 2014, Hoffman responded to a report of juveniles throwing pine cones at moving vehicles on Philadelphia Avenue.

The juveniles were leaving the area and Burrell was walking down the street when Munoz drove by and saw Hoffman and Burrell, the suit said.

Munoz allegedly stopped his car in the middle of the street, got out and drew a gun on Burrell, “causing plaintiff Burrell severe emotional distress,” according to the complaint.

The suit said Munoz continued to point the gun at him until Hoffman arrested Burrell.

“During the course of the aforesaid arrest, defendant Hoffman assaulted plaintiff Burrell by throwing him to the ground, knocking out his two front teeth,” the suit said. “Additionally plaintiff sustained multiple lacerations.”

 It said Burrell has had to undergo extensive dental work as a result.

Hoffman left the department in January 2015 after the city began disciplinary action against him, said City Solicitor Jim Carroll.

“All I can tell you is the city had commenced disciplinary action against him,” said Carroll. “He had agreed to go out on disability and has filed for disability, and is no longer employed by the city.”

Hoffman had transferred to the city from the Atlantic County Sheriff’s Office in July 2012 and his final salary with the city was $60,905, according to the city.

Munoz retired from the Atlantic City Police Department in 2009 with a pension of $66,470 and a salary of $96,127, according to state public pension records.

Hoffman also was included in a 2014 lawsuit by a female confidential informant who said former city Officer Steven Hadley, of Port Republic, forced her into having sex with him. She said Hoffman knew of the abuse but did nothing to stop it.

Hadley later received a five-year suspended sentence in 2014 after a guilty plea, and forfeited his right to public service and to his pension.

The Burrell suit was served on the city two weeks ago, said Carroll, who said the state Joint Insurance Fund would handle the case for the city.

The Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office said at the time of the incident it was investigating how police handled it.

Atlantic County Prosecutor’s spokesman Jay McKeen said Tuesday the prosecutor would have no comment on the case, nor would he say if the investigation has been completed.

Blumberg-Weinstock said the charges against Burrell were resolved in the juvenile system, but declined to say more about the charges or how they were resolved.

The lawsuit also accused Egg Harbor City of neglecting to maintain a robust internal affairs procedure in accordance with state law, to investigate improper behavior by police and apply appropriate discipline.

 The lack of an internal affairs procedure was listed by Atlantic County Prosecutor Jim McClain as a serious problem in a March report that called the Egg Harbor City Police Department dysfunctional.

The suit charges the defendants with violating Burrell’s civil rights, failing to properly hire, train and supervise police officers; with intentional assault and battery, and with negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress. It seeks unspecified compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorney’s fees, costs of suit and “such other relief as the court deems just and equitable.”

Blumberg-Weinstock said the family does not know of other officers involved, but the suit lists unnamed others in case discovery turns up involvement by more officers.
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/teen-suing-ehc-over-alleged-excessive-force-by-police/article_93db4a04-13dd-11e6-86b0-f32709de71a3.html

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