Berkeley Pays $110,000 To Settle Case Where Man Accused Officers Of Assault

by Patricia A. Miller

Although the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office and the Berkeley Township cleared two officers accused of assaulting a Toms River man, the township has agreed to pay the man a $110,000 settlement, according to NJ Civil Settlements.

The township settled with Darren Yurick in late November 2014, the blog states.

“The matter was handled by the Garden State Municipal Joint Insurance Fund,“ Mayor Carmen F. Amato Jr. said. “They assign attorneys and decide the best course in defending the town.”

Yurick, Morning Glory Court, was arrested on Jan. 27, 2013 and charged with simple assault and criminal restraint after a domestic violence call. He claimed in a lawsuit that Officers Patrick J. Stesner Jr. and Michael Tier assaulted him with “excessive force and without justification” while he was in a holding cell.

Officer Patrick Stesner was seen on video hitting Darren Yurick twice in the face while the Toms River man was in custody following his arrest on Jan. 27, 2013, nj.com previously reported.

The video footage released by Yurick’s attorney, Thomas Mallon, is “a small segment of a good bit of additional footage we have that gives us a clear picture in entirety of everything that happened that night,” Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office spokesman Al Della Fave told Patch in 2014.

Della Fave called the Berkeley Township Police Department a “very progressive” police department that even outfits police officers on the road with body cameras.

“That is very helpful in these investigations to have multiple views,“ Della Fave has said.

Yurick also named Police Chief Karin T. DiMichele and Sgt. Kevin Santucci in the suit. He had asked for a trial by jury, compensatory and punitive damages, attorney fees and the cost of the suit.

Yurick was most recently arrested on Oct. 9, 2015, after Ocean County Sheriff Michael G. Mastronardy caught him ”huffing” from an aerosol can in an effort to get high. He was charged with with possession of drug paraphernalia and use or possession with intent to use. He was also wanted on two probation warrants for bail violations.